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KAMPALA - As a cost-cutting measure aimed at reducing Government expenditure on workshop venues, the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA) is seeking shillings 100 million in the forthcoming fiscal year to furnish its new offices that were commissioned last year.

PPDA executive director Benson Turamye disclosed this on Wednesday (April 3, 2024) during an interaction with the House Committee on Finance chaired by Amos Kankunda (Rwampara County, NRM).

The engagement which centred on ministerial policy statements for the 2024/25 financial year was graced by State Minister for Finance (Planning) Amos Lugoloobi.

“I want to appreciate that you gave us money to complete our building and it needs to be furnished. Plot 39 Nakasero Road we have a new building and it needs some furnishing, especially our conference hall and the training centre and we have saved a lot of money, in terms of even accommodating other agencies who come there instead of going to hotels to use our services,” Turamye appealed.

“Unfortunately, our Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) is not adequate to cover our needs and we have a funding gap of sh13.6Bn. This if it is provided by this honourable committee will enable us increase the coverage of audits hence fighting corruption in procurement. It will help in change management, and electronic government procurement,” he added.  

According to Turamye, the funds will go a long way in reducing costs, Government Ministries, Agencies, and Departments have been incurring in renting hotels for seminars and workshops.

“If you are handling a conference of 100 people and you go to a hotel, for example, if you go to Serena, maybe each person will spend a minimum of sh150,000 for food, venue and also these conference facilities. Sh150,000 multiplied by 100 people is sh150m. What if they were 1,000?” he posed.

Turamye added “In a year maybe we have 10,000 participants that we host not only from PPDA but also from other Government agencies. So if we put good facilities like that, you are talking about 6 conferences for that 100m. So we do a lot of capacity building with local providers, Government officials, training them and I would say, we save more than a billion shillings.”  

According to Turamye, the funds will go a long way in reducing costs, Government Ministries, Agencies, and Departments have been incurring in renting hotels for seminars and workshops.

About the project

The 10-storey twin tower was built together with the Uganda Road Fund (URF) at a cost of sh50bn.

Suffice it to note, that the entity and URF struck a deal in the 2013/14 financial year to develop the Joint Office Project to house both institutions. The arrangement was further strengthened by a Joint Development Agreement which was signed on October 12, 2016, after obtaining the designs and cost estimates for the project.

2024/25 Budget

PPDA’s projected budget for the forthcoming fiscal year stands at sh24.105bn. Of which sh12.955bn will go towards wage, sh3bn for capital development, and sh8.150bn towards non-wage.

Fast forward, the committee chairperson Amos Kankunda asked the entity to respond in writing about issues that were raised including the red tape in public procurements.