Compliance with the stipulated procurement process in local governments: a case from a developing nation

Empirical evidence of compliance or otherwise with procurement laws especially in developing nations is limited despite its importance in ensuring quality project delivery. This research assessed compliance with the procurement law in the local government setting of a developing nation, challenges to compliance and workable solutions. A total of 108 copies of a carefully structured questionnaire were administered to individuals concerned with contract administration in the local governments in the study area and 87 were considered good enough for analysis. Data analysis was done using crosstabulation, chi-square, mean score and percentile. Among other findings, the study revealed that there is partial compliance with the procurement clauses in the local governments. The study also revealed that significant relationship exists between knowledge of the Procurement Act, owning a copy of the act and compliance with the act. These findings of this study will be useful for construction and public procurement administrators as an evidence of the need for a multifaceted action towards strengthening compliance.