Ouganda : ELECTRONIC PUBLIC PROCUREMENT SYSTEM

The government commits to e-GP deployment.

Uganda’s ambition is to digitize the country’s public procurement process. Called e-GP, it has introduced an integrated system designed to digitize the procurement and waste disposal process across government ministries, departments and agencies. The government is committed to its deployment. Twelve pilot entities have already been progressively launched, while 36 are already enrolled in the system..

Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury (PS/ ST), in the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Ramathan Ggoobi, has reiterated the government’s intention to roll out the electronic public procurement system, (e-GP), to all entities by the end of the fiscal year fiscal year 2024/2025.

e-GP is an integrated system designed to digitize the procurement and disposal process across government ministries, departments and agencies.

On July 1, 2021, the government launched e-GP in 12 pilot entities, and gradually, to date, 36 entities have enrolled in the system. Speaking to accountants, heads of procurement and disposal units, and members of the contracts committees of the 36 entities recently enrolled in Kampala, Mr. Ggoobi said that over the next two years, e-GP will be rolled out to 420 entities. Mr. Ggoobi said, adding that e-GP will also reduce human interaction, which he believes is one of the vectors of corruption. He also noted that e-GP facilitates access to real-time information, which is what’s good for business. He challenged stakeholders involved in e-GP deployment to embrace it and overcome resistance to change and to the paper-based system that has been used to date. Mr Ggoobi reaffirmed the government’s commitment to funding and supporting e-GP, asking agents to “actively participate in the implementation of this reform”. Speaking at the same ceremony, PPDA Executive Director Benson Turamye, noted that “as public procurement is the backbone of economic development, accountants and their teams should ensure that public funds are used effectively, efficiently, transparently and in the best interest of our citizens”.

Mr. Turamye added that “the e-GP system is envisaged to minimize the human interface and provide a single hub for all public procurement. As such, I would like to add my voice to that of the PS/ST and implore you to give us your fullest support for the successful implementation and adoption of the e-GP system”. He also warned civil servants that e-GP, as a system, cannot eliminate inefficiencies in the public procurement process, and there will always be human beings left to manage the computers. “If you’re not on your computer the inefficiencies we’re talking about will remain,” he said.

The head of the e-GP project at the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Ms Florence Nakyeyune, reminded the assembly that e-GP is not a computer system. She stated that it is the normal procurement process enhanced by information technology. Ms. Nakyeyune also noted that while the system is an important tool in the fight against corruption, it alone cannot eliminate the vice because “corruption is an attribute”.