Corruption fight: IGG asks countries to embrace technology

At a time when countries from the Great Lakes region are struggling to curb corruption in public procurement, the Inspector General of Government, Irene Mulyagonja, has called for investment in technology and reduce the manual handling of bids.

Mulyagonja made the remarks at a meeting of procurement experts and procurement officers from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Nigeria in Kampala on Thursday.

She said countries need to encourage modern online systems and save the country from losing billions of shillings in procurement contracts.

Use of electronic procurement methods, will according to Mulyagonja, cut out middlemen and reduce on procurement related corruption cases that are rampant especially in the construction sector.

"The onus is now on the East Africa member states to create an enabling environment for technology application in the procurement filed," she said.

Statistics show that between 55-60 percent of regional budgets are channeled to public procurement.