Evaluation of Pre-Tender Documentation of Identified Public Building Projects in the 2009-2010 Economic Stimulus Programme of Kenya

Abstract

The Government of Kenya, through the Ministry of Finance, proposed the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) as a short-term, high intensity, high impact programme, aimed at investing resources in the short-term, in projects with both short- and long-term benefits. ESPs focused on sectors that would generate maximum benefits and revamp the economy, and investment in building of public utility facilities was identified as one of the projects. These projects faced a multitude of problems. This paper is a report on a research that was carried out to investigate the problem of pre-tender documentation of the ESPs. Pre-tender documentation is crucial for monitoring and evaluation of government-initiated programmes and projects. Data was obtained from both secondary and primary sources and analyzed qualitatively. It was observed that documentation of the projects was hardly on schedule, that tender processes were at times flawed, and that poor quality work was delivered by contractors under the supervision of the Ministry of Public Works (MoPW) design teams. Poor performance, process of constituting and composition of design teams, leadership, communication, co-operation between departments and the client experience were noted as contributory factors. Using the ESP as a case study, it can be concluded that the documentation set up at the MoPW is inadequate and there is need for formulation of more robust frameworks. Additionally, there is the need to link the documentation with other current, past, present and future Government of Kenya efforts to institutionalize the knowledge gained. It is recommended that information documentation be done across all the institutional levels with a view to ensure adequate horizontal and vertical communication.