Uganda is preparing to launch an e-government procurement (e-Gp) system in an attempt to combat corruption in public procurement and enhance efficiency.

ITWeb Africa reports that the system will be piloted from early July 2018 in 10 of the country’s procuring and disposing entities. They include the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA), the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, the Ministry of Water, and the Uganda National Roads Agency.

Benson Turamye, PPDA executive director, says corruption will be minimised when the e-Gp is fully functional because it will replace the current manual process of procurement.

‘There will be no interaction between bidders and officials. Also, side deals can’t be negotiated on the system. With the introduction of the e-Gp system corruption will be no more. We benchmarked this system and we assure Ugandans that it will save 30% of wasteful government expenditure.’

The estimated total cost of the programme was US$1.5 million, with US$1 million allocated to the acquisition and implementation of the system. The balance will be earmarked for a review of the strength of the system’s security over three years.

14 February 2018
Image: Gallo/Getty Images