Procurement reforms and service delivery in the Ministry of Defence: A case study of Chieftaincy of Logistics and Engineering in UPDF

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the extent to which the procurement reforms have influenced service delivery in the CLE, in the MoD of Uganda. Specifically the study examined the extent to which procurement institutional, process and capacity building reforms have influenced military service delivery. The study used a case study design where both quantitative and qualitative approaches were adopted on a total population of 210 subjects in the MoD chieftaincy of logistics and engineering in liaison with the Chiefs, PDU, CLE, local PDU, local Contract committee, receiving committees, divisional logistics officers, sub depot, and Service Brigade. The study selected 132 respondents using purposive and simple random sampling. Data was collected using a questionnaire and interview guide and was processed using SPSS. The data was analyzed using mean, standard deviation, correlation and regression analyses. The study found that institutional reforms were a significant predictor of the variance in service delivery by the CLE in UPDF as it predicted 15.3% of the variance in military service delivery. Process reforms were a significant predictor of the variance in military service delivery by the CLE in UPDF as it predicted 25.2% of the variance in service delivery. Capacity building was the single highest predictors of the variance in service delivery by the CLE in UPDF as it predicted 48.6% of the variance in service delivery. The study concludes that institutional, process and capacity building reforms were taking shape in the defense force although with some challenges. Procurement institutional, process and capacity building reforms significantly influenced military service delivery. The study recommended that the Accounting officer should ensure that the established contracts committee, PDU and User Departments in the entity perform their delegated functions as provided for in the PPDA Act, 2003 for enhanced military service delivery.