Contract management and value for money in health centre IIIs construction works in uganda. A case of Tororo district local government and Tororo municipal council in Tororo district

Abstract

This study sought to examine the relationship between contract management and value for money in the construction of health center IIIs in Tororo District covering Tororo District Local Government and Tororo Municipal Council. The objectives which guided the study were; to examine the relationship between contract implementation plan and value for money, to assess the relationship between contract monitoring and value for money, and to evaluate the relationship between contract completion schedule and value for money. The Principal Agency theory and institutional theory guided this study since these two theories resonated well with the study variables. The researcher used a cross sectional research design, in which both Quantitative and Qualitative research approaches were employed. The study population consisted of; accounting officers, PDU staff, Members of the user department, the contract managers/supervisors, contractors and the contracts committee members. The study population was 98 respondents from which a sample of 92 respondents was chosen (86 for quantitative and 6 respondents for qualitative). For quantitative study, 84 respondents returned the questionnaires constituting 97.6% response rate while for qualitative study, whereas for qualitative study only 4 respondents gave their responses during the interview sessions out of the targeted 6 respondents giving a response rate of 66.7%. The overall response rate for both qualitative and quantitative studies was 82.2%. The findings revealed a moderate and positive relationship between contract implementation plan and value for money (r = 0.625**, beta=.18.7, p<.05), the study also revealed that contract monitoring and value for money have a strong, positive and significant relationship (r=.729**, beta=.547, p<.05). Relatedly, a moderate and positive relationship was discovered between contract completion schedule and value for money was established (r=.506**, beta=.093, p<.05). The findings from the regression analysis further revealed that contract management (contract implementation plan, contract monitoring and contract completion schedule) account for 54.6% of value for money in TDLG. The remaining 45.4% was accounted by other factors outside the scope of this study. The researcher recommends that TDLG and TMC should ensure prompt payment of suppliers, regular supervision, use skilled staff in management of contracts and adopting an electronic system in which contractors with multiple contracts can be identified early. Also there is need to increase the staff in the engineering/works department and need to employ at least one technical person monitor of government contracts at each sub county to help supervise construction works to enable the local government attain value for money.