November 23, 2023
Chairperson,
Senior Government Officials,
Development partners
Colleagues CSO leaders
Ladies and gentlemen;
Ladies and Gentlemen;
I am pleased to address this 20 th public procurement policy dialogue on behalf of civil society organisations working on transparency, accountability and integrity issues in public procurement in Uganda.
CSOs working on transparency, accountability, value for money and inclusiveness in public procurement commend the Government of Uganda for amending the PPDA Act in July 2021 to provide for the enhancement of the participation of special groups in public procurement.
We also would like to report that most recently PPDA and AFIC secured a small grant from the Open Contracting Partnership (OCP) code named LFT to pilot implementation of this amendment with special focus on promoting women’s participation in public procurement in four entities- namely Kampala Capital City Authority, Wakiso District Local Government, Uganda Electricity Distribution Company (UEDCL) and Mbarara City Council.
While commending Government for drafting Guidelines for the participation of special groups in public procurement, we are deeply concerned that they have not been approved inspite of assurances provided by Government in response to a concern raised by Parliament on the issue on July 11, 2023.
It is also disturbing that more than 2 years since the law as amended, no single woman, youth or PWD owned enterprise has won a single contract under the scheme. CSOs are also concerned that disclosure on the Government procurement portal has significantly declined inspite of significant investmemts by the Government and development partners. This is further complicated by the fact that a significant percentage of PDEs are not on the eGP.
We urge both the Ministry of Finance and PPDA to expedite the issuance of Guidelines for the participation of special of special groups in public procurement and to urgently address the lack of publication of data on both the GPP and eGP.
Thank you for listening and for the opportunity to address you.
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