POSITIONING OF PROCUREMENT FUNCTIONS AND ITS INFLUENCE ON SERVICE DELIVERY: A CASE OF ELGEIYO MARAKWET COUNTY, KENYA

The current study sought to establish strategic positioning of procurement functions in Elgeiyo Marakwet County. The objectives of the study were to determine strategic position of procurement function in Organizational Structure and effects on service delivery and the effects of government policy on strategic positioning of procurement functions in Elgeiyo Marakwet County, Kenya. Descriptive survey design was adopted in this study; the target population was all the employees in administrative position at various departments. Cluster, purposive and simple random sampling was used to select the respondents. Questionnaires and key informant interviews was employed in data collection. Descriptive statistics summarized the data into frequencies and percentages while inferential statistics indicated the relationship between procurement positioning and service delivery. The study established that the position of procurement function in the organization structure influence service delivery in the County Government. The study findings indicated that decision making for procurement lies with the county executives making procurement functions highly centralized. The Chief procurement officer is not strategically positioned to take part in procurement decision. Concerning the organization in the procurement department, it was found that procurement staffs have a good knowledge of the Counties strategic goals, procurement functions are included in the County strategic planning process, The County government develops procurement staff to develop some elements of competitive strategy. The study findings indicated that the procurement policy is quite comprehensive in addressing various sectors in procurement which include: setting standard procurement guidelines that are aimed at enhancing competition, efficiency and value for money, requiring adoption of e-procurement to enhance transparency and competition in the procurement functions, stipulating composition of the procurement committee in the County government and requiring publication of tenders in the medium that allow large number of audiences to access. It was noted that the policy does not stipulate the positioning of the procurement function