Assessment of Factors Affecting Procurement Performance in Public Procuring Entities in Tanzania

Abstract

Public procurement management is a major cause of resource wastage in many African countries, citizen perceive procurement as the area of corruption and waste while the government performance depends on procurement. This study explores the factors affecting procurement performance in public procuring entities in public organizations a case of Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (TANESCO). A cross-sectional design was being utilized where data was collected from 50 respondent through questionnaires and 8 senior managers also were interviewed. Data were analyzed by using Descriptive statistics, Regression analysis and correlation analysis and presented through mean, S.D, frequency and percentage through SPSS version 25. The study found that there is a significant relationship between contract management practices and procurement performance, particularly concerning internal control (χ² = 0.980, p ≤ 0.034) and failure to control contract timelines (χ² = 689.907, p ≤ 0.000). Also, procurement planning effectiveness was influenced by staff participation (β = 0.129, t = 2.778, p ≤ 0.007), adherence to budgets (β = 1709.171, t = 1.755, p ≤ 0.005), and stakeholder engagement (β = 2716.845, t = 1.855, p ≤ 0.061). Furthermore, compliance challenges included lack of training, non-participation, and budget deficits. The study concluded that performance of public procurement as a center for good governance are resulted from better planning, effective commitment on contract management and compliance to the internal and external guidelines, laws and procedures, then the study recommended that government through PPRA add regular training and workshop together with enforcement of laws to ensure high commitment of personnel on the matter of public procurement.