Assessing the effectiveness of monitoring and evaluation in contract management: case study feeder road construction in Kaberamaido district

Abstract

In Africa many projects fail not for lack of commitment in investment on infrastructure but because of not keeping track of whether benefits generated impact positive changes in societies. For instance, road infrastructure is a central driving force for the country’s economic development and if this is coupled with sustained access to roads all contribute to better living standards of the community. Thus, to achieve this call for reforms in the introduction of the results-oriented management through monitoring and evaluation of the public sector projects particularly roads and the decentralization of the management of feeder road construction from central to local governments. The study examined the effectiveness of monitoring and evaluation in contract management practices on performance of the feeder road construction in Kaberamaido district. The study benched marked data from three other districts; Wakiso, Arua Municipality and Soroti Municipality. A case study design was employed where both qualitative and quantitative methods were used in the study. The sample size of 80 arrived at using Krejcie and Morgan (1970) formula for sample size determination and 76 valid questionnaires were returned. Data collection was done using self administered questionnaire and interview guide. Pearson correlation was the main statistical test used to determine the relation between the dependent variable and the independent variables. Using Pearson Bi-variate correlation, the study findings revealed a significant positive relationship between monitoring, evaluation and use of monitoring and evaluation on the performance of feeder road construction in the study context. For monitoring, a high correlation (r = 0.79) with a significance value = .000, evaluation with a correlation (r = 0.89) and a significance value of 0.000 and use of monitoring and evaluation with a significance value of 0.001 and (r = 0.73). The study findings revealed that the performance of the road construction in Kaberamaido district was more related to the availability and use of resources which include funding, human resources and the basic raw materials used in the construction process. However, sometimes inadequacy of the required resources resulted into delays, cost overruns and poor-quality service. This meant that there was a need for effective road inspection by the district authorities which contributes a very significant positive role in enhancing performance of feeder road construction.