| Year of assessment | 2019-2021 |
| Date of publication | February 2024 |
| Country procurement volume | 1.2 billion USD (2017) |
| Principal organisation | Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) |
| Main partners | African Development Bank (AfDB) |
Uganda
Recognizing the central role that public procurement plays in public service delivery, financial management, and sustainable development, this MAPS MAIN assessment resulted in recommendations targeting strengthening legal frameworks, improving procurement planning and efficiency, enhancing e-GP implementation, increasing transparency, and ensuring better institutional coordination.
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Quick facts
Background
Why was a MAPS assessment initiated?
The assessment was conducted to evaluate Uganda’s procurement system, align procurement laws with economic reforms, and improve the effectiveness of public expenditure and service delivery.
Who initiated the assessment?
The assessment was led by the Government of Uganda (GoU) through the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MoFPED), with support from the AfDB.
Brief description of the country procurement system
- Degree of centralization: Decentralized system where Procuring and Disposing Entities (PDEs) manage their procurement, while PPDA provides regulatory oversight.
- Regulation level: Governed by the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act (PPDA Act), last amended in 2021, along with supporting regulations and guidelines.
- Supranational regulations: The system is aligned with international best practices but is not subject to supranational procurement regulations.
Additional relevant context:
- Uganda has been rolling out the Electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) system, expected to enhance transparency and efficiency.
- Procurement reforms are being implemented under the National Public Sector Procurement Policy (NPSPP) 2019.
Were there any disruptions?
The COVID-19 pandemic delayed fieldwork and data collection, impacting assessment timelines.
Main results and impact
- Issue: Inconsistencies between the PPDA Act and Local Government Regulations.
- Recommendations:
- Amend the Local Government Regulations to ensure consistency with the national procurement framework.
- Recommendations:
- Issue: Slow procurement processes due to manual eligibility verification and repetitive document submission.
- Recommendations:
- Accelerate the rollout of e-GP to enable digital submission and verification of procurement documents.
- Recommendations:
- Issue: Lack of an implementation strategy for Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP).
- Recommendations:
- Develop an SPP implementation plan as outlined in the National Public Sector Procurement Policy (NPSPP) 2019.
- Recommendations:
- Issue: Weak integration between procurement planning and budget formulation.
- Recommendations:
- Mandate that procurement plans are finalized and published by July 15 each fiscal year.
- Improve cost estimation methodologies through market research and needs analysis.
- Recommendations:
- Issue: Inadequate procurement training and professionalization.
- Recommendations:
- Implement a mandatory procurement training program for all public procurement officials.
- Establish a certification system for procurement professionals.
- Recommendations:
- Issue: Limited data collection and analysis for procurement performance monitoring.
- Recommendations:
- Ensure that the e-GP system fully captures procurement data for better analysis and policy formulation.
- Introduce a procurement performance measurement system with key performance indicators (KPIs).
- Recommendations:
- Issue: Low competition in procurement due to restrictive requirements for bidders.
- Recommendations:
- Simplify prequalification requirements to encourage participation from more bidders.
- Strengthen market outreach programs to engage small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
- Recommendations:
- Issue: Delays in contract execution due to weak procurement planning.
- Recommendations:
- Implement multi-year procurement planning for large contracts.
- Ensure timely disbursement of funds to prevent project delays.
- Recommendations:
- Issue: Weak contract management practices.
- Recommendations:
- Develop standardized contract management templates for all PDEs.
- Establish a monitoring framework for contract execution.
- Recommendations:
- Issue: Weak procurement complaints and appeals mechanism.
- Recommendations:
- Strengthen the independence and capacity of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Appeals Tribunal (PPDAT).
- Implement a digital complaints tracking system.
- Recommendations:
- Issue: Insufficient transparency in procurement processes.
- Recommendations:
- Mandate real-time publication of procurement data on an open-access platform.
- Enhance civil society engagement in procurement oversight.
- Recommendations:
- Issue: Limited enforcement of anti-corruption measures in procurement.
- Recommendations:
- Strengthen procurement audit mechanisms within the Office of the Auditor General.
- Establish a whistleblower protection program for reporting procurement fraud.
- Recommendations: