Africa-Press – Uganda. The Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA) has warned government agencies and entities of tougher penalties in the new PPDA regulations 2023, and PPDA guidelines 2024.
Mr Benson Turamye, the executive director of PPDA during a two-day dissemination exercise for these regulations and guidelines in Mbarara City, said the authority will have its legal team that will expeditiously prosecute those that flout the PPDA laws.
“Initially we used to have cases and send files to the DPP but the prosecution would take longer. Under the new guidelines, we are training 11 lawyers who will be assisted by the Office of the DPP. We shall also be having our police team. This will help in timely prosecution of those that flaunt PPDA rules,” he said Tuesday.
Mr Turamye added that in the new guidelines even a lesser crime like delaying to open up contact bids, contract officers delaying to award a contract will attract a punishment of not less than three years of imprisonment or a fine of between Shs3 to 10 million.
“There will be a PPDA tribunal with seven commissioners led by a judge who will help in timely resolving conflicts arising from contracts awards. Unlike in the past where a party is not certified with a contract goes to court, this time it will first be handled by the tribunal,” he said.
The Mbarara Resident City Commissioner, Col James Mwesigye, said the guidelines and regulations may be good but the main challenge remains corruption.
“The challenge we have been having with procurement is corruption. There is a company that came here, it is known for doing shoddy work, and in some areas, it was even blacklisted, we said such a company should not work here but they went ahead and gave them the contract,” Colonel Mwesigye said.
Mbarara City clerk Mr Assy Abireebe said the new regulations and guidelines will help in the timely execution of contracts.
“The new guidelines will reduce delays in awarding contracts. This will improve service delivery and value for money because they will help in addressing corrupt-related challenges in procurement and awarding of contracts,” he said.
The dissemination meeting was attended by Chief Administrative Officers (CAOs), City and Municipal council clerks, procurement officers and engineers from the western region.
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