Redefining corrupt procurement practices based on stakeholders’ perception

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Date
2015-02-20
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Abstract
Procurement involves the acquisition of identified goods, services and works from external source by public or private institutions. These acquisitions are perceived to be characterised by corrupt practices which have tainted the integrity of procurement processes. The aim of this study was to redefine corrupt procurement practices based on stakeholders’ perception. The objectives of the study were: to identify the various corrupt procurement practices and to discover the major causes of corruption in procurement. It was also to establish the effects of knowledge, attitude, practice, and beliefs on corrupt procurement practices and to generate a context definition for corrupt procurement practices. The study was conducted in the Central Region because the researcher believes the blend of people needed for the study could be found here in the region. A snowball sampling technique was used in the selection of contractors, opinion leaders and press men because the elements in the population could not be individually indentified by the researcher. The selection of the representatives from the two donor agencies, critics of the definition and professionals from the various institutions were done by applying purposive sampling. The use of this sampling technique ensured that procurement practitioners with the requisite knowledge about procurement and its related issues were selected. Data was collected using questionnaire survey and was analysed using SPSS to determine the frequencies of occurrence of events and their percentages. Respondents identified contradiction of procurement regulations, bribery, and disclosure of valuable information to firms, disregard for professional ethics, conflict of interest, and flouting of procurement law or regulations as the basis for redefining corrupt procurement practices. In addition to these practices listed earlier are: lack of transparency, direct assistance to tenderers or contractors, favouritism, tender collusion and rigging, receiving, giving, or soliciting gift (directly or indirectly), fraudulent acts and abuse of discretion. It came to light that most of the corrupt procurement practices that take place are due to weaknesses in institutional structures, limited accountability, insufficient enforcement of laws, and poor management practices in organisations. The study concludes by redefining corrupt procurement practice based on stakeholders’ perception as “the direct or indirect offering, giving, receiving, or solicitation, of gifts or bribes, conspiracies among firms, or fraudulent practices that influence the procurement selection process or contract execution for personal gain”.
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A thesis submitted to the department of Building Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Procurement Management,
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