Determinants of unethical public procurement in local government systems of Uganda: a case study

This paper examines the relationship between institutional framework and management systems on one hand and unethical behaviour in procurement management on the other hand. It explores the extent to which institutional and management systems could be the determinants of the increasing unethical behaviour in local government procurement systems in Kibaale District, Uganda. The results are from a cross-sectional descriptive study design that attracted a total of 77 respondents out of the sampled 86 (a response rate of 89.5%). The reliability analysis of the results was found to be with an alpha = 0.804. Descriptive and relational statistics were used to analyse the data obtained from a closed five-Likert-scale questionnaire. The findings overall do not show a very strong relationship between institutional frameworks and management systems as key determinants of unethical behaviour, suggesting the presence of other possible determinants. However, the results indicate that there are two specific variables under management (communication and monitoring and evaluation) that have a statistically significant correlation with unethical behaviour in procurement. We compare the results with existing literature and suggest practical and policy implications.