Contract Management Practices and Performance of Public Water Projects in Nairobi City County, Kenya
Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of contract management practices and performance of public water projects in Nairobi City County, Kenya. Specifically, the study sought to determine the effect of contract implementation, and contract monitoring the performance of public water projects in Nairobi City County, Kenya. Methodology: This study adopted a descriptive survey design. The target population of the study was a sample of 51 water projects in Nairobi County. The specific respondents were project managers, project procurement officers, project accountants, project administrators and customers of the projects. Total respondents were 306. The sample size was 98 respondents selected using simple random sampling. This study used primary data which was collected through use of a questionnaire. SPSS was used to produce frequencies, descriptive and inferential statistics which were used to derive conclusions and generalizations regarding the population. The particular descriptive statistics was frequencies, mean scores and standard deviation. The particular inferential statistic was regression and correlation analysis. The results were presented using charts and tables. Findings: The study found that contract implementation has a positive and significant effect on performance of public water projects in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study also found that contract monitoring has a positive and significant effect on performance of public water projects in Nairobi City County, Kenya. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Form the results, the study recommends that the management of public water projects in Kenya should establish a robust supervision and compliance mechanism throughout the project lifecycle. Effective contract implementation requires continuous oversight to ensure that all contractual obligations such as timelines, resource utilization, quality standards, and safety measures are being met.