Parliament passes PPDA Amendment Bill 2019

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Parliament has passed the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Bill, 2019,  which is expected to reduce the bureaucracies of Procurement.

The Bill provides for electronic records and communication, the aggregation of procurement requirements and the inclusion of marginalized groups under reservation schemes.

The Bill has also streamlined the administrative review process and provides for the appointment of a Registrar of a Tribunal, the powers of the High Court in procurement proceedings and amends the Kampala Capital City Authority Act and the Local Governments Act concerning procurement.

According to the Finance Committee Chairperson Henry Musasizi,  they have terminated the administrative review process by the Authority under the new regime. Previously, there were three layers for the administrative review process, which has now been entrusted to the Accounting Officer and the Tribunal.

The tribunal will also have only 15 working days to handle reviews which will help solve the issue of delay.  In procurement, an administrative review is initiated when a bidder makes a complaint, claiming to have lost a tender due to a breach of procurement law among others.

Musasizi says the power of PPDA has been strengthened in the new law.

The Minister of Finance in charge of Planning, David Bahati says the procurement process has now been strengthened especially killing delays, but also the electronic records management in procurement where all details will be online.

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