Effects of conflict between the elected leaders and appointed officials on procurement management in Agago District Local Government

Abstract

This study was about the effects of conflict between the elected leaders and appointed officials on procurement management in Agago District Local Government. The study objectives were; to establish the extent to which individual conflicts affects procurement management, to examine how interpersonal conflict affects procurement management, to assess the extent to which intra-group conflicts affects procurement management and to determine how government legal framework influences procurement management. The study used a case study research design and was supported by qualitative and quantitative approaches. Accessible populations of 100 respondents, a sample of 80 respondents were used. A response rate of 81.2% was obtained. The key findings revealed that, individual conflicts had significant positive relationship on procurement management, interpersonal conflicts had a significant positive relationship on effective procurement management, Intra-group conflicts was found to have a significant positive relationship on procurement management and Government legal framework was positively related to procurement management. Basing on the findings, the researcher concluded that conflicts affects procurement management, the need to develop appropriate mechanism of handling conflicts, acknowledging the effects of conflict as contributing to weaknesses in service delivery, minimizing its effects on performance, allowing room for corrections by officials and leaders of the district to be responsible and accountable. Based on the discussions held above, the following are recommended namely; to alert practicable interventions for improved service delivery, introduce and adopt various e-procurement tools to improve inefficient and ineffective procurement management, encourage managerially innovative and have a strong centralized procurement office that can improve procurement management in the district.