Factors Affecting Public Procurement Practice in Selected Public Organization In Dire Dawa Administration

Procurement activities are very critical to all organizational units, from households to firms, and the government or public. Public procurement is the function whereby public sector organizations acquire goods and services from suppliers in the local and international markets, subject to the general principles of public procurement. Hence, this thesis aimed to examine factors affecting procurement practice in five selected public organizations in the Dire Dawa administration in eastern Ethiopia. Furthermore, the study aimed to determine whether public organizations in the Dire Dawa administration were employing best practices in procurement regarding procurement plans and staff competencies, information and communication technology, and top management support. In line with this, the study adopted both descriptive and explanatory research designs. The study targeted five purposefully selected public organizations in the Dire Dawa administration, which comprised 262 respondents who are in one way or the other involved in public organization procurement. Both primary and secondary data were collected using a questionnaire and document analysis. The collected quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive, including mean and standard deviation, and inferential analysis that mainly includes correlation and multiple regression analysis. Based on the analysis, the findings revealed that public organizations in the Dire Dawa administration have complied with the administration policies regarding procurement to a reasonable extent. Some of the factors included the skills in procurement possessed by those undertaking the task, budgeting, and external factors like inflation. Additionally, the study found out that the selected public organizations failed to achieve the five rights or principles of procurement because of the complexity of procurement practice and the capacity of employees to handle problems related to procurement and bad ethics towards procurement. Based on the findings, the study recommended more training for those involved in procurement, the review of the prescribed procurement practice, timely and proper planning, as well as improved utilization of information communication technology and proper top management support for the procurement practice..