Public procurement ethics and service delivery in the public sector in Uganda: a case of Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA)

Abstract

The study was focused on public procurement ethics and service delivery in the public sector of Uganda using a case study of Kampala Capital City Authority. The study was guided by the three objectives that is, to evaluate the influence of transparency in the procurement process on service delivery, a case of Kampala Capital City Authority, to examine the influence of integrity in the procurement process of Kampala Capital City Authority on service delivery, to examine the influence of impartiality in procurement process of Kampala Capital City Authority on service delivery. A cross-sectional research design was used for the study since data was collected as single point in time and this enabled the researcher to collect detailed and in-depth data from KCCA staff and contractors. The researcher used questionnaire and interview guide to collect data from the respondents and 45 respondents formed the sample size of the study. The findings of the study indicated that there is a strong linear relationship between transparency, integrity, impartiality and service delivery (r =.891). Transparency, integrity and impartiality affect service delivery by 79.4%. The results of the study indicated that integrity most affects service delivery (t = 3.334) followed by impartiality (t = 2.945) and lastly transparency (t = 2.619). The study recommends that central to the whole of public procurement ethics is integrity and lack of integrity means that there is high level of corruption which affects adversely service delivery. Furthermore, the element of impartiality should strictly be followed. Procurement officers should not be biased in their procurement dealing of the Authority is to ensure efficient service delivery. Lastly, the whole process should be transparent to foster proper evaluation of service delivery.