Deputy Speaker cautions procurement practitioners against aiding corruption
The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Thomas Tayebwa, has warned procurement officers against enabling corruption through accounting officers, saying that 80 percent of oversight queries originate from procurement-related issues.
“Some of the real corruption, especially around the budgeting process is integrated in procurement. Instead of accusing Parliament of distorting the budget, you better talk to your accounting officers who come and say for example, ‘If you give me Shs10 billion extra for this project, I will return Shs1 billion,’ ” said Tayebwa.
AUDIO: Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa
According to the Deputy Speaker, such corrupt tendencies are worsened by the public’s perceptions of procurement professionals, and he pledged to support the expeditious enactment of the Institute of Procurement Practitioners (IPPU) law.
“I am very happy with this law which is proposed. We shall ensure that if we find any gaps that do not give you enough room for cleaning up your profession, we will fill the gaps. And I promise you if that law comes to Parliament, within a month or two, we would have cleaned it up,” he said.
Tayebwa was speaking at the Sixth Annual Procurement Summit at Hotel Africana in Kampala on Friday, 08 July 2022. The summit was held under the theme, ‘Procurement as a tool for sustainable social-economic development.’
The Chairperson of IPPU, Pelly Mugasi, that if the IPPU Bill is passed, it will contribute to the improvement of service delivery to the country.
“This bill will soon be forwarded to the First Parliamentary Counsel for official drafting and we ask for your support,” she said.
The Executive Director, Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets (PPDA), Benson Turyamye, cited the need to regulate the procurement profession, just like the rest of the professions which have been regulated.
“The procurement course has been in existence for 19 years and yet the profession is not yet regulated. We urge Parliament to support this bill when it comes on the Floor,” he said.
Turyamye also called for the expeditious amendment of the PDDA Act to enshrine sustained procurement provisions in the PPDA regulations.
“These regulations are already submitted to the First Parliamentary Counsel for final drafting and will be tabled in Parliament,” he said.
He added that the proposed regulations serve to augment the existing provisions, including compliance with environment, safety performance and security to ensure sustainable procurement.
“In September 2020, the PPDA issued entities a Standard Bidding Document for procurement of works projects and incorporated environment, social, health and safety. If you are procuring works projects, you must adhere to these parameters that are driving towards sustainable procurement,” he said.
The Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury at the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Ramathan Ggoobi, castigated government entities over what he called, ‘slow implementation of projects.’
“Every report I have read cites slow procurement. Every report I have read, cites high costs of procurement. To buy things in government is so different from buying things for our normal lives,” Ggoobi said.
He said that procurement is one of the areas with the huge potential of achieving economic transformation agenda.
The IPPU brings together procurement and supply chain professionals and practitioners from the public and private sectors from across the country.