Government to probe Makerere gown procurement mess

Government through the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) is set probe Makerere university gown procurement bungled process.

The just concluded Makerere University 70th convocation was clouded by the gown shortage saga when the contractor failed to deliver on-time the total gowns that were required for the four-day ceremony.

PPDA has now given the administration at Makerere until January 23, 2020 to provide procurement contractual files that resulted into the controversial deal.

This is according to the PPDA Director of Legal and Investigations Uthman Segawa who was addressing the press at the Uganda Media Center on Thursday.

Segawa said that they have requested Makerere to provide the contractual files before 23rd this month to enable their audit team to start with investigations in the matter.

“Our contract audit team will get to the details as to whether there was any breach of the law while contracting this supplier. We got to know this from the press coverage and we requested Makerere to get us the information. There are a number of sanctions that PPDA can put in place in case there was any breach,” Uthman said.

Segawa described the move by the supplier to buy gowns from China as outrageous and cautioned that all government agencies should procure materials from local producers.

“The materials are from these providers who produce them locally, we urge all government agencies to procure from our local producers,” he added.

The contractor in question was identified as Team Uganda Limited, a firm which signed a contract with Makerere University in 2017 to supply the university with gowns until 2022.

When contacted, Makerere University’s Manager of Communications Dr. Muhammed Kiggundu declined to comment.