Internet-based procurement system launched to promote efficiency
Only those who have ever made a bid to provide goods or services to the government would understand the pain and frustration one has to endure to win a tender and after supplying the goods to get paid. This is now set to change for the better. On June 18, the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA launched a one-stop online platform with hopes that it will leverage ICT to promote efficiency in public procurement.
The portal will combine the services of three previously used platforms - the public procurement performance measurement system, the tender portal as well as the register of providers. It is expected to benefit government agencies, the private sector, the public as well as procurement regulatory bodies.
Cornelia Sabiiti, the executive director of PPDA, the government agency responsible for scrutinizing public procurement, said the e-procurement initiative has come at a time when the government is trying to digitalize all its bodies to promote efficient and accountable governance.
It will provide transparency and accountability on how funds are being utilized in the different ministries, departments and agencies. By using this portal, regulators will also be able to pull reports and track progress of procurement plans posted by the government agencies.
“We shall be able to know as the regulator but also as entities to track the speed of the procurement process,” Sabiiti said.
“Effective July 1, procurement plans will have to be loaded and from day one, we shall enter the system and know at what stage each procurement is.”
Besides ensuring that there is efficiency in the procurement process, Sabiiti noted that PPDA would also try to have more transparency in the process and to generate statistical data.
How many contracts are, for instance, awarded in sectors such as works, consultancy and supplies and, what kind of profile of providers are there? These are all questions that will be answered at the click of a button and in real time.
She noted that the portal would also help other government agencies such as the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to know which providers are given contracts so they can be followed up for taxes; while the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) would be interested in knowing whether these providers are actually legally registered in the country.
Some of the functionalities and information available on the government procurement portal include; procurement plans, disposal plans, bid notices, contract information, best evaluated bidder information, suspended bidders; local and international bidders as well as a list of registered providers.
The portal, which has been developed with support from the World Bank and the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), is expected to be rolled out in phases to allow PPDA to monitor its effectiveness, efficiency and its technical abilities before it is then rolled out to all other entities countrywide.
Government agencies will be expected to load their procurement plans onto the portal and then PPDA will track them on whether they are spending their budget in the plan; using the right methods, or moving at the right speed since PPDA wants to promote efficiency and value for money in service delivery.
Edwin Muhumuza, the manager for compliance monitoring at PPDA, told The Independent that even the civil society through their complementary role will access the portal to monitor government procurement plans.
“They will also have access to best-evaluated bidder notices, which they can monitor [and] in case they have contrary information regarding the bidder, they will be able to get in touch with the government to review the bids.”
The government has been implementing public procurement reforms over the last 25 years with the aim of addressing bottlenecks in public procurement and to enhance efficiency and service delivery.
The initial reforms resulted in the enactment of the PPDA Act 2003, which disbanded the central tender board and provided for the decentralization of public procurement. In 2010, the government carried out further reviews of the law, which resulted in the amendment of the PPDA Act and regulations, which came into force in March last year.
The main purpose of the amendments was to promote competition, ensure efficiency and promote value for money.
However, in spite of the reforms the government has implemented, public procurement in Uganda has been facing various constraints, including weak contract management, corruption, delays in procurement and low competition.
The constraints have been exacerbated by a system that is highly manual, lacking in transparency and heavily bureaucratic.
However, the government has in the last five years embraced ICT and seen successful projects such as URA’s e-tax system, which has enabled the tax body to collect more taxes and more efficiently.
In addition, through the integrated financial management systems, all financial systems have also been streamlined across government institutions. It is for this reason that the government has taken a decision to introduce e-procurement in Uganda.
Prof. Simeon Wanyama, the PPDA board chairperson, noted that the importance of public procurement cannot be overstated considering that the public sector spends about 60% of its budget on public procurement.
For instance, in the financial year that starts on July 1, the government intends to spend Shs 11 trillion on procurement. This, he said, represents a significant portion of the budget.
He urged the private sector to ensure that they visit the portal on a regular basis to participate in the tender opportunities that will be advertised on the portal.
Francis Kisirinya, the director finance at the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PFSU), welcomed the development saying this has come as a relief to Uganda’s business community, which has repeatedly complained about the low share and limited participation in public markets/procurement due to lack of information.
He said considering that Uganda’s public markets are worth 60% of the national budget, the initiative would boost Uganda’s private sector, which is dominated by young, small and medium-sized enterprises that require working systems and support business environment to grow.
Their commercial activities represent on average 75% of annual GDP, they employ over 80% of the total workforce and produce largely for the domestic market, Kisirinya said.
“For meaningful and speedy economic development to be achieved, enterprise growth and development through public procurement is critical because it is among the various routes for creating wealth, jobs, increasing purchasing power and widening the tax base.”
He said he hoped the e-government portal would enhance the private sector participation in public procurement and will result in a number of benefits including; better use of factor resources through increased production and productivity, increase employment levels and household incomes since increased demand stimulates production. Kisirinya said he hopes the portal would motivate the government to implement the ‘Buy Uganda Build Uganda’ initiative through the domestic preferences scheme and motivate the local private sector to improve their capacities to take advantage of the public markets.
“In case this is not happening, we will be raising the flag because the reason is very simple: If the business community got the 15% of Shs 11 trillion that would be close to Shs 2 trillion.”
“This is a substantial amount of money that can actually increase the demand for the locally-produced goods; it would increase the market share and it would also increase the local business community capacity and in the end help the local businesses grow.”
“In the past, the private sector complained about the lack of transparency; that the evaluation of the tenders lacked transparency and had no way of accessing the evaluation reports to know why they lost out in particular areas.”
“This is going to change with the portal; they will access the bid notices, track their bids, and they will also know who has succeeded and why they have succeeded.”
“By knowing that, they will re-organize so that they can be competitive in future.”
The portal can be accessed at: www.gpp.ppda.go.ug.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Ronald Musoke
Quelle/Source: The Independent, 28.06.2015
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