Suppliers urged on consistency as government moves towards e-procurement
Suppliers of goods and services to government have been urged to be consistent in their supplies to remain with government trust.
Government recently announced that starting July, public procurement will go online in a bid to solve problems in regard to record keeping and reduced transactional costs.
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Speaking during the energy supplier development forum hosted by Barclays bank in Kampala, Umeme procurement manager, Innocent Byamukama said that just like private companies, governments also get problems of poor goods and services supplied after undergoing the procurement process.
“The first lot you deliver is good but because you know you have already got the order, the second one is of poor quality. The supplies keep on being inconsistent in terms of quality,”Byamukama said.
He cited an example of fake transformers and metres which pose a risk to the lives of their customers.
“You need to be consistent. I want to caution that when these goods are rejected, it will cost you a lot and government will never trust you.”
The Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Asset’s Florence Nakyeyune who is the eGP Project Manager explained that the e-procurement system go a long way on reducing government money spent on procurement.
“We want to make procurement better for us as government and you as bidders. All you need is to access the internet using your phone or computer and can procure,”Nakyeyune said.
“You submit the bids online, evaluation is done and results are shared online. We want to eliminate any human element that is usually connected with bribery.”
She said e-procurement will also help reduce bidding costs payable by bidders but warned them on lack of efficiency.
The e-procurement system to be rolled by the Ugandan government starting July will first be piloted in 10 entities including PPDA, National Information Technology Authority (NITA), Kampala Capital City Authority, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), National Social Security Fund (NSSF), Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA), Ministry of Water and Environment, Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Mpigi District Local Government Authority and Jinja District Local Government Authority.
When asked about the risk of the government portals being hacked into, Nakyeyune said there will be minimum security requirement for any government platform on top of system control evaluations.
