An assessment of transparency and fairness in public procurement: the case study of Kinondoni Municipal Council

The study’s main objective was to review and discuss the actual practice of public procurement in Kinondoni Municipal Council, focusing on transparency and fairness. The specific objectives were to assess the nature and size of public in procurement in Kinondoni Municipal Council, to establish how the procurement Management Unit performs its functions in relation to the user departments, The target population in this study were employees of Kinondoni Municipal Council (KMC). Purposeful sampling method was employed to ensure each stratum (level) of staff is well represented. A total of 74 respondents were randomly selected from all strata. Fundamentally, the study utilized both primary and secondary data which was collected through face-to-face interview and administration of questionnaires to the existing literature related to this study. Statistical package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows was used to formulate statistical calculations to establish frequencies, percentages, tables and figures. The findings show that the average values of goods and services procured annually at Kinondoni Municipal Council is about Tshs.16 billion. This is a substantial amount of money whose expenditure through procurement of goods and services. In general, the advertisements of tenders have been well done in the Municipal. The provisions of tender documents were fairly done indicating that the provision of tender documents is transparent and fair. In addition, the PMU staff cooperated well with other stakeholders. It is recommended that further studies be done to assess transparency and fairness in the procurement sector. To avoid complaints from the stakeholders, Municipal authorities should see to it that the Public Procurement Act, 2004 and Public Procurement Regulations, 2005 is put into practice. All procurement officers should be trained on how best to handle their customers internally and externally.