Factors hindering effectiveness of public procurement audit in Tanzania

Abstract

Public procurement is one of the major areas of public expenditure accounting for a substantial portion of the annual budget for both local and central governments in Tanzania. Although the Government of Tanzania has put in place regulatory institutions, laws, and regulations for effective and value for the money procurement process, still compliance is one of the major problems. The aim of this study was to assess factors hindering the effectiveness of procurement auditing in the public institutions in Tanzania while focusing specifically to Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) as a case study. Specifically, the study sought to examine the influence of professional skills on effective compliance with procurement auditing, examine the role of integrity in compliance with procurement auditing, and examine the role of auditor’s independence in compliance with procurement auditing. The study involved a total of 33 respondents. Data were collected through questionnaires and key informant interviews. Findings showed that factors like professional skills, continuous training, and individual auditor’s experiences influenced compliance with procurement auditing. Also, The integrity of auditors was found to influence compliance with procurement auditing as well as increasing organizational effectiveness. Also, the findings revealed that external auditors enhanced the effectiveness of the procurement auditing process while lack of independence leads to misstatements in the audit reports. The study concluded that possession of relevant skills; auditors’ integrity and independence were key factors for effective public procurement auditing. This study calls for the Government of Tanzania to hire qualified auditors in its institutions. Also, TANAPA should train its auditing staff on relevant short courses as part of capacity building to its auditing staff.