Why govt is moving to upgrade procurement portal

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The Government says it is taking major steps to strengthen transparency in public infrastructure spending following the release of a new mapping report highlighting critical upgrades needed for the Government Procurement Portal (GPP) to align with global open contracting standards.

The report was presented on November 13, 2025, by open data specialist Michael Cengkuru during a Use Case Workshop at the PPDA Towers in Kampala.

The meeting was co-organised by CoST Uganda, the finance ministry and the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA), bringing together procurement regulators, officers and civil society groups to examine ways of modernising the GPP in line with the Open Contracting for Infrastructure Data Standard (OC4IDS).

In his presentation, Cengkuru said the GPP, already regarded as one of the strongest transparency tools in the region, now needs targeted enhancements to match emerging global requirements.

“Uganda has made significant progress by publishing machine-readable procurement data. But the next step is upgrading the system to capture project-level, sustainability, and environmental safeguards information so that citizens and regulators can track whether infrastructure delivers on its promises,” he said.

The workshop was opened by the PPDA Director for Performance Monitoring, Dr Byaruhamga Aloysius, who said the Authority is committed to ensuring that CoST data points are reflected in the upcoming upgrade of the GPP.

Major disclosure gaps

The Mapping Report was prepared for the Africa Freedom of Information Centre (AFIC) and PPDA. It assessed the current GPP architecture against 148 data elements required under OC4IDS, a global framework that promotes transparency across the infrastructure project lifecycle.

While the GPP performs strongly on basic procurement disclosures, including tender notices, evaluation criteria, award amounts and supplier information, the report shows that the platform currently meets only 17.6% of the OC4IDS requirements. Out of the 148 data elements assessed, only 26 are being published.

The report further notes that project-level disclosures, which are essential for tracking whether works are completed on time and according to specifications, are extremely limited. Only 4.2% of the required project-level disclosure paths are available on the platform. 

“This gap limits lifecycle oversight. Citizens and oversight bodies cannot easily follow a project from planning to completion, making it harder to verify value for money,” Cengkuru said.

New regulatory demands, climate finance pressures

Uganda’s procurement entities are operating under new obligations introduced by the PPDA 2023 Regulations, which took effect in February 2024.

The rules require mandatory disclosure of Environmental, Social, and Health Safeguards (ESHS) information for all public infrastructure projects.

However, the current GPP does not support structured fields for ESHS reporting. According to the report, this limitation may hinder compliance and could also restrict Uganda’s access to climate-related financing, which increasingly demands verifiable sustainability reporting.

The Mapping Report estimates that Uganda could tap into at least $2.5 billion in regional climate finance if it establishes systems capable of documenting and sharing standardised sustainability indicators.

“Access to climate financing isn’t just about project proposals. Financiers want evidence of compliance, environmental safeguards, and lifecycle monitoring. Without structured data, Uganda risks missing out,” Cengkuru noted.

Priority upgrades proposed

To address these gaps, the Mapping Report recommends three strategic enhancements to the GPP, including the establishment of a structured ESHS compliance framework, creation of project-level architecture using unique identifiers and integrating 78 sustainability and beneficial ownership indicators.

Regarding the ESHS compliance framework, the report proposes introducing 23 new data fields to meet PPDA’s 2023 requirements and allow consistent reporting of environmental and social safeguards.

On creation of project-level architecture using unique identifiers, the report says this upgrade would allow contracts to be linked across planning, tendering, implementation, and completion, enabling better monitoring of fulfilment of commitments made during the planning phase.

The report advises prioritising at least 15 indicators critical for unlocking climate finance and meeting Regulation 119, which requires transparency around beneficial ownership.

Supporting regional procurement commitments

The report connects Uganda’s planned upgrades to commitments made at the 16th East African Public Procurement Forum (EAPF) in 2024, where regional member states agreed to promote sustainable procurement and enforce beneficial ownership transparency.

Cengkuru said implementing the proposed enhancements would position Uganda at the forefront of regional transparency reforms.

“Uganda already leads the region in publishing open procurement data. With these upgrades, the GPP would become a powerful infrastructure transparency tool not just for Uganda but for the entire East African Community,” he said.

Why Stronger Data Matters

Uganda invests more than sh1.5 trillion annually in public infrastructure. However, many projects continue to experience cost overruns of between 25% and 40% and frequent delays.

The report argues that richer, more structured data could help address these issues by enabling early detection of cost variations, verification of contractor performance, monitoring environmental and social impacts and independent oversight by journalists, civil society, and development partners.

“Upgrading the GPP transforms transparency from simply knowing who won a contract to understanding whether public infrastructure truly met development, sustainability, and value-for-money objectives,” Cengkuru said.

Way forward

PPDA and AFIC are expected to begin technical consultations on how to implement the report’s recommendations.

This will include realigning GPP data structures, adding new reporting modules, and training procuring entities on updated disclosure systems.

CoST Uganda pledged to support the alignment of the upgrades with global best practices and national priorities.

Stakeholders at the workshop agreed that the planned changes are not merely technical adjustments but central to building public trust, improving oversight, and ensuring infrastructure projects genuinely benefit the country.

AFIC Executive Director Gilbert Sengugwa told participants that “What cannot be measured, cannot be improved.”

He urged strict compliance with legal requirements and warned against poor environmental management, saying: “We either care about our environment or we die, we can’t just sit and talk about climate and environment lightly.”