procurement of common use items and services (CUIS) in PE’s in Tanzania. The specific objectives of this research was firstly to assess the criteria used for selecting Economic Operators in the system for procurement of CUIS, secondly, to determine the mechanisms used for establishing indicative market prices for CUIS, thirdly, to determine if PE’s were resisting to use the system, fourthly, to determine whether there is an M&E mechanism to measure performance of the system and lastly, to determine whether stakeholders of the system are regularly trained. The area of the study was at the Government Procurement Services Agency (GPSA). The study also included PE’s namely, Ilala Municipal Council, Kinondoni Municipal Council, Temeke Municipal Council, the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) and fifteen (15) Economic Operators located in Dar es Salaam region and obtained their views on the system for procurement of CUIS. Non-probability sampling technique was employed and a sample size of fifty five (55) respondents from twenty (20) organizations was drawn. Forty eighty respondents responded to the questionnaires giving a response rate of 87.3%.. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used during data collection. Interviews, questionnaires and documentary reviews were employed whereby the data collected were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 18. The findings on the first specific objective revealed that some of the criteria were not given more weight which led to the selection of incompetent suppliers. The findings on the second research objective revealed that indicative market prices were established and reviewed annually and semi-annually. The findings on the third research objective revealed that a considerable number of PE’s were not using the system for various reasons. The findings on the fourth research objective revealed that there was no M&E to measure performance of the system and the findings on the fifth research objective revealed that stakeholders were trained although the training did not cover many stakeholders due to budget constraints. The researcher recommends that a mechanism for setting prices for CUIS that will co-relate with market price should be put in place, establishment of M&E to measure the performance of the system, to have a software that will be able to detect and control the distribution of orders from PE’s to economic operators, to establish a mechanism of getting well drafted specifications for CUIS and the Agency to make efforts to address the challenges that are facing the system for procurement of CUIS.

Dissertation Submitted to Mzumbe University, Dar es Salaam Campus College in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of Master of Science in Procurement and Supply Chain Management Degree of Mzumbe University.