Determinants of Participation of Special Groups in Public Procurement Opportunities in Tabora, Tanzania

Abstract

The concept of public procurement as a tool to encourage participation by special groups seems to be very interesting agenda front developmental and economic perspective. Generally, the study aimed to assess the determinants of the participation of special groups in public pprocurement opportunities. Specifically, the study aimed to determine the influence of the access to information towards participation of special groups in public pprocurement opportunities, to examine the influence of creating awareness on the participation of special groups in public procurement opportunities, to examine the contribution of financial capacity building on the participation of special groups in public procurement opportunities and to determine the influence of implementation of established laws and regulations towards participation of special groups in publicc procurement opportunities. The study was guided by the Inclusive Development and Agency Theory as the basis for the study. A cross-sectional research design was adopted while stratified and proportional random sampling techniques were used to obtain 224 respondents. Data were collected through questionnaire and interview descriptive statistics and Multiple Linear Regression Models were used in analysing data. Ihe findings revealed that access to information; awareness creations; financial capacity building; and implementation of procurement law are the determinants of the participation of special groups in public procurement opportunities. The study concluded that there was a significant relationship between independent variables (access to information, awareness creations, financial capacity building, and implementation of established laws) and the participation of special groups in public procurement opportunities. The study recommends to the Local Govemment Authorities (LGAs) that they should invest much in creating awareness to the special groups and PE's staff about the given preference scheme on public procurement opportunities. Additionally, the study recommends that the PPRA ought to monitor the effective implementation of the established procurement law and regulations by all public procuring entities to ensure participation of special groups in public procurement opportunities. Finally, the study suggests that further study to be conducted on reasons for low implementations of established procurement law and its regulations towards participation of special groups in taking public procurement opportunities