Uganda has won a prestigious Anti-Corruption Collective Action award, for its outstanding achievements in tackling corruption and raising standards of business integrity in the region.

The award was presented to CoST Uganda an infrastructure transparency organisation that promotes transparency by disclosing data from public infrastructure investment, helping to inform and empower citizens by enabling them to hold decision-makers to account.

“This award is not just for CoST Uganda, but for the Government, private sector, and civil society partners that have worked together to increase disclosure, undertake assurance processes to give meaning to disclosed data, and more importantly government’s commitment to implement recommended reforms,” CoST senior regional manager Gilbert Sendugwa said.

According to Sendugwa, the award, which was given on June 2, 2023, in Johannesburg, South Africa, confirms the value of infrastructure transparency in the delivery of public infrastructure projects in Uganda and beyond.

He adds that the award also speaks to outstanding performance in enhancing transparency and accountability in the public infrastructure sector through the promotion of disclosure of infrastructure data, periodic, independent review of disclosed data, technical assistance, and broad consultative cooperation with key stakeholders in government, the private sector, and local communities.

CoST Uganda has promoted integrity and fairness in infrastructure procurement using a multi-stakeholder approach in Uganda. 

“It is pertinent that Governments, private sector, and civil society jointly work together through the cost approach of disclosure, assurance, multi-stakeholder working and social accountability to remove all impediments that affect the delivery of quality infrastructure, stronger economies and better lives,” Olive Kabatwairwe, Africa Manager and Coordinator, CoST Uganda said.

The organisation promotes better data disclosure through open contracting for infrastructure data standards which has been integrated into the Government procurement port (GPP) and enables disclosure across projects in Uganda, increasing competition in doing business with government agencies and strengthening transparency in the procurement process for infrastructure projects.

CoST Uganda has also documented changes at Policy, sector, and project levels on how public infrastructure projects are delivered.

“CoST Uganda is an example of what can be achieved when Government, the private sector, and civil society come together in a concerted effort to improve infrastructure and services for the benefit of the people and the economy,” Petter Matthews, the executive director of CoST international secretariat said.

The idea of enhancing data disclosure on infrastructure projects, according to CoST, helps to inform and empower businesses and citizens.

The knowledge enables businesses and citizens to hold decision-makers to account and informs the delivery of quality infrastructure, a stronger economy, and better lives.

“Our approach has been appreciated and adopted across the various entities, for instance, the citizens barazas have been introduced by the Government across all infrastructure projects as an accountability and information-sharing platform,” Kabatwairwe said.

She added that: “Citizens have been able to raise their concerns and receive feedback, this has directly led to improvement on infrastructure projects addressing issues from the assurance reports”.

Recently, CoST Uganda won the first international global award as the best-performing member program implementing the CoST approach that has documented results at various levels in a nearly few years of implementation.