PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine whether contractual completeness is a cornerstone to stakeholder management in Public–Private Partnership (PPP) projects in Uganda.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted a cross-sectional and quantitative approach. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire survey from a sample of 103 PPP projects in Uganda. Partial Least squares structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.FindingsThe study found that contractual completeness dimensions (contractual obligatoriness, contingency adaptability, issue inclusiveness, term specificity) are all significantly and positively associated with stakeholder management in PPP projects in Uganda.Originality/valueThis paper is one of the few studies on stakeholder management in PPP projects from a developing country’s perspective, thus contributing to scanty literature on how to manage stakeholders in PPP projects.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper is limited to the relationship between contract completeness dimensions and stakeholder management in PPP projects in Uganda. Future studies should be conducted on other factors that affect stakeholder management in PPP projects in Uganda.Practical implicationsOur results imply that when all the relevant issues are included in the contract, contract terms are explicitly stipulated, all the unanticipated changes are described and when all the parties involved are restrained by a binding force of a contract, conflicts and opportunism reduces and stakeholders concerns are addressed.

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