3. Corruption in Procurement- Antecedents, Practices, and Challenges

Governance aspects of African democracies have been the focus of theoretical and empirical study for over two decades. With the introduction of newly established democracies, new markets evolved with controversial results. The basic premise of this chapter is that good governance practices are shaped and constructed through organizational practices. Within the most large public and private sector entities, procurement practices are organized around institutional measures and the extent of compliance with legislative controls. This chapter examines corruption in procurement- its antecedents, practices, and challenges, through the lenses of institutional theory. Instances of corruption in African public services are reported on almost a daily basis. There is no scarcity of scandals that illustrate the depth and pervasiveness of corruption. In the wake of these scandals and the role that corruption has played, awareness has grown about the social, political, and economic costs of the corruption which such African countries cannot afford. In Africa, as in most parts of the world, governments are major consumers of goods and services. It is therefore expected that government procurement presents opportunities for governance challenges. Such governance challenges may be attributed to the area of government procurement having a series of unique features and as such participants are susceptible to acts of poor governance such as corruption. Antecedents such as the magnitude and volume of procurement activities, ambiguity around the market value of many of the items being purchased, the spaces for political discretion that exist within government, and interdependence among various agencies, all contribute to government procurement as a fertile ground for corruption.