Govt proposes collaborative procurement system

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The Government has proposed a new method of public procurement in which common user items across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) will be procured collaboratively.

According to the procurement strategy, collaborative procurement is an organisational strategy that focuses on achieving greater value by working together with suppliers to jointly plan, source, and buy products.

The focus is on collaboration and value rather than on cost saving. While traditional supplier management focuses on cost reduction, collaborative procurement also optimises volume, demand forecasting, contracting, and other practices that cut costs while still meeting the purchase requirements of each MDA. 

Speaking to Journalists at the launch of the Budget month activities ahead of the budget reading on June 11, 2026, at the Ministry of Finance offices on Monday, finance ministry permanent secretary Ramathan Ggoobi said the new collaborative procurement also brings visibility to suppliers and helps drive efficiency.

He said that come July 2026, the government plans to start a number of reforms that will drive the 10-fold growth strategy. Among the reforms, he said, is in the area of public procurement, where all MDAs as well as Local Governments will implement the use of collaborative procurement for common user items such as stationery, computers and cars.

Ggoobi said this is part of the measures to cut wastage, guard against overpricing of goods and services in government, standardise prices, achieve quality standards and value for money, as well as maximise economies of scale.

This reform, Ggoobi added, will make public procurement transparent and corruption-free. According to Ggoobi, the reform will remove middlemen in procurement and cut down on time spent.

"If Government is buying similar things like cars and computers, there is no need for each entity to look for bidders. Those local governments, as you know, of course, some of them do a very good job, but there are those that need to improve. So, let's concentrate more effort now on accountability during procurement.  That's why we are going to emphasise reforms in procurement. How do we make procurement more result-oriented?” he wondered.

Ggoobi noted that currently, there are a lot of delays in public procurement due to bureaucratic processes.

“Each organisation has a contracts committee, which sits, and then other committees also sit.  They even have a waiting period. When they have finished everything, they still have to wait for someone to complain. If he's not there, they can solicit for one to complain. And so on and so forth. Those are the things we must do away with. In every small office in Uganda, there are committees that have sat to buy a computer, a car, and boxes of water. Now these can be put together, and we buy all of them at once and enjoy economies of scale,” he said.

He noted that common user items will be purchased in bulk on behalf of all requesting MDAs and local governments.

He said Ugandans should be ready to tap into the opportunities that are emerging out of the strategic growth areas, which include Agro-Industrialisation, Tourism, Mineral Development, as well as Science and Technology (ATMs).

He said in the budget, the government has majorly prioritised investment in the enablers of the ATMS, such as transport infrastructure, electricity, irrigation, social services like education and health, industrial parks and domestic resource mobilisation.

"I wish to sincerely appreciate our National Budget Month Partners for their continued cooperation and commitment towards advancing transparency, accountability, and good governance within the budget process," Ggoobi said.

According to Ggoobi, the process of preparing the Budget Estimates for the financial year 2026/27 started in July 2025 and involved nationwide consultations with all stakeholders, including President Yoweri Museveni, Cabinet, Parliament, Civil Society, MDAs, Local Governments, development partners, the private sector, academia, community leaders, youth and women groups, and persons with disability.

Ggoobi noted that as a result of wide consultations, there has been greater public ownership of the Budget among Ugandans, improved exploitation of the opportunities therein, as well as improved rating in the Open Budget Survey ratings.

According to Ggoobi, Uganda’s rating in Budget Transparency has moved from 58% in 2021 to 59% in 2023, against a global average of 45%; Budget Oversight moved from 59% in 2021 to 67%, against a global average of 52%. However, public participation in the budget process rating reduced from 19% in 2021 to 15% in 2023, against a global average of 14%.