Government told to pay contractors, suppliers on time

By Billy Rwothungeyo                

Government should speed up the payment processes to contractors and suppliers who take part in public procurement.

Gideon Badagawa, the executive director, Private Sector Foundation of Uganda (PSFU) said delays in making payments breeds corruption tendencies among bidders who inflate costs as a mark-up for delays.

“Are we paying on time? For as long as we delay payments, people tend to be corrupt because they know that the money will come after six months or one year,” he said.

Badagawa made the remarks on Thursday while addressing a bidders’ conference organized by PSFU, the World Bank and the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA).

He also urged Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to do more if they want to take part in public procurement activities, which takes the biggest chunk of the government budget.

“What does it take to prepare to submit a bid? Do our SMEs understand this? The limited understanding of the bidding process from the time that one reads the adverts to the submission of bids,” he said.

“Does everyone understand that if the deadline for submitting a bid is 4:00 O’clock, and you come five minutes past the time, you are out?”

PPDA executive director, Cornelia Sabiiti, admitted that there are delays in paying contractors and suppliers, and said that the ministry of finance working to improve the situation.

Submitting a forged document is self-defeating, as one risks being blacklisted by the public procurement regulator.

“We have had bidders who had bidders who have forged experience? We have had contractors who said they have built bridges in South Sudan, they even show us pictures, but when we would go and check, there would be no bridge,” she said.