The PPDA issued its first three-year Corporate Plan in December 2004. The first annual revision of the plan was issued in January 2006. This is the second annual revision of the Plan.
Chapter 1 gives an account of the background to the establishment of the PPDA and presents revised vision and mission statements, together with a restatement of the objectives, functions, guiding principles and core values. The present organisational structure of the PPDA is set out, together with an organisation chart. The structure of public procurement in Uganda is also described.
Chapter 2 considers the extent of achievement of the strategic goals in the first revision of the Corporate Plan. While good progress has been made in realizing many of these goals, there is much work that remains to be done. The last revision of the Corporate Plan also set out certain key outcomes, relating to the kind of changes that the PPDA is designed to bring about in the conduct of public procurement in Uganda, noting that its success will ultimately be judged by the extent to which these outcomes are realised. These key outcomes were identified as:
• The establishment of a fair, transparent and accountable public procurement system;
• Raising the Government’s reputation for integrity by reducing the incidences of corruption in public procurement and thereby establishing Uganda as a good environment to invest and do business; and
• Making better use of the Government’s budget by obtaining better value for money in public procurement (better contract prices for more suitable products and services).
While the progress in achieving these outcomes cannot be precisely measured, there is sufficient evidence of improvement for the judgement to be made that the public procurement system in Uganda is fairer, more transparent and accountable than it has been in the past. While there is at present insufficient evidence to contend that incidences of corruption in public procurement in Uganda have reduced, an important survey into perceptions of corruption in public procurement has been carried out and this survey will serve as a baseline so that further studies can assess the progress made in reducing it. Nor is there sufficient information available to assess whether better value for money in public procurement is being obtained. However, enforcement of the procurement rules and, in particular, of the preference that ought to be given to open competitive bidding, should enable better value for money to be obtained than under procurement methods that allowed contracts to be awarded to favoured bidders without going through a competitive process. Improved human resource capacity in the PPDA and in the PDEs is raising the standard of procurement practice. Furthermore, sensitisation of providers is helping to improve private sector awareness and compliance to the procurement law and procedures.
Chapter 3 looks at planned programme activities in relation to the objectives set out in Section 6 of the PPDA Act. The first objective, to ensure the application of fair, competitive, transparent, non-discriminatory and value for money public procurement and disposal standards and practices, will be pursued through a range of activities, including greater efforts to have PDEs’ bid notices, notices of best evaluated bidder and notices of contract award, together with the equivalent notices for disposal, published on the PPDA website; putting in place by end 2007 an operational register of providers of supplies, services and works; implementation of preference schemes by 2008 as part of a package to assist the local business community; publication of a Register of Sales to Public Officers; development of a database of average prices for common user items; development of a dual classification system for Defence and National Security Organs; development of sector bidding documents and guidelines; an increase in procurement audits and investigations carried out, together with more effective follow-up measures; and a comprehensive revision of the Act and Regulations. The second objective, to harmonise the public procurement and disposal policies, systems and practices of the Central Government, Local Governments and statutory bodies, will be pursued principally through programmes of capacity building and tooling; through a training programme for local government staff and other stakeholders; through provision of Guidelines, standard bidding documents and a user guide that are tailored to the needs and circumstances of local governments; and through monitoring and enforcement of compliance. Local authorities will benefit also from a broad range of PPDA programmes that are aimed at both central and local government. Among the programmes that will advance the third objective, to set standards for public procurement and disposal systems in Uganda, will be the issuing of further Guidelines and advice to central government PDEs; a review of standard bidding documents; and setting technical specification standards. The fourth objective, to monitor compliance of procuring and disposing entities, will be promoted by stricter enforcement of reporting requirements; by obtaining a wider range of statistical information through revision of the format of reporting; and by more frequent and thorough compliance checks. The fifth and final statutory objective for the PPDA, to build procurement and disposal capacity in Uganda, will be promoted through capacity needs assessments designed to obtain more accurate estimates of demand for training; by implementing appropriate capacity building measures to address the identified needs of PPDA, PDEs and targeted providers, in addition to other skill development programmes; a continuation of the sensitisation and capacity-building programme at both the Central Government and Local Government levels; and the promotion of professional development and self-regulation.
In Chapter 4, it is noted that the PPDA has already made good progress with its programme to strengthen its internal organisation and more will be done over the period of the Corporate Plan in the key areas of finance, human resources, accommodation, management information and public relations.
Finally, an updated implementation programme is presented in Chapter 5.
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