ENHANCING AN EFFECTIVE CAPACITY BUILDING SYSTEM IN THE PUBLIC PROCUREMENT SECTOR IN UGANDA

Presented by

Milton Tumutegyereize – Director, Training and Capacity Building

At the East African Procurement Forum held at Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort, Kampala 10th –

12th June 2008

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PRESENTATION OUTLINE Introduction – Definitions Chronology of Capacity Building Key activities carried out Number of Stakeholders Methodology and approach used in

Capacity Building Challenges and Measures Way Forward

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Definition of Capacity Building

PPDA understood Capacity Building as: “the development of an organization’s core skills and capabilities, such as leadership, management, finance and fundraising, programs and evaluation, in order to build the organization’s effectiveness and sustainability”.

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CB… That it is the process of assisting an

individual or group to identify and address issues and gain the insights, knowledge and experience needed to solve public procurement challenges and implement change.

And that it is facilitated through the provision of technical support activities, including coaching, training, specific technical assistance and resource networking.

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Capacity Development - CD PPDA also adopted a UN definition

of CD as: “the process through which individuals, organisations, and societies obtain, strengthen, and maintain the capabilities to set and achieve their own development objectives over time”.

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Capacity vs DevelopmentIn short, PPDA has taken these two phenomena as, “Capacity being the ability of people, institutions

and societies to perform functions, solve problems and achieve objectives”. On the other hand,

“Capacity Development being the process through which capacity is conserved, created, strengthened, adapted and maintained over time.” UNDP, 2002

Hence, PPDA realised that both concepts are necessary, and we have been emphasing both.

In Uganda, we’ve carried out substantial capacity building, we continue to do the same, and are now looking at ways of conserving it.

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Capacity building mandate of the PPDAThe Capacity building mandate of PPDA as

stipulated by the PPDA Act : Build sustainable capacity in public

procurement and disposal in Uganda; Ensure continuous procurement and disposal

capacity improvement and development as part of economic development of the country;

Ensure establishment of a viable institutional framework for public procurement and disposal operations.

Set training standards, competent levels, certification requirements and development paths in consultation with competent authorities

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Chronology of CBReceived TA from DFID implemented by

Crown Agents [2001-2003], who: Developed 4 training modules [The

New Procurement System, Specification Writing, Contracts Management, Bid Preparation and Evaluation]

carried out the first sensitisation on Regulations 2000.

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Chronology of CB…2.TA from UNDP (Initially with IAPSO)

[2003-2004], who: Developed 10 modules started sensitisation on the current law. UNDP support continues up to today.3.Support from Belgian Technical

Cooperation (BTC) [2007-to-date], who have supported CB for 3 LGs and 4 Ministries.

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Initial activities in 2001-2003 The focus on capacity building was on several issues: analysing, profiling, and establishing the institutional

mechanisms in all PDEs; assessing available and required human resource needs

to introduce a procurement professional stream in the public service;

developing and implementing skills-based training modules;

providing advisory and line-support services to 5 big PDEs; and

developing institutional linkages and capacities on the part of selected local training institutions and individuals to support in a sustainable manner, all training needs.

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Key activities carried out since 2003 to-date Developed a three year capacity building strategy that

is rolled annually; Carried out capacity needs assessment in Central and

local government entities, 50 high profile providers in central government and PPDA ;

Developed training modules for Central and local governments;

Carried out training (Sensitization & skills-based) both demand and supply driven;

Developed capacity for 20 procurement trainers [TOTs] who assist, as individual consultants, to carry out capacity building activities;

Provided hands-on-support to less compliant PDEs.

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Key activities… In consultation with stakeholders, facilitated

the formation of the Institute of Procurement Professionals of Uganda - IPPU;

In consultation with stakeholders, developed a draft procurement education training standards policy;

Promotion of Ethics and Integrity in public procurement through the Ethical Code of Conduct by both public officials and providers;

Recognised procurement as a profession and introduced the procurement cadre in public service

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Change in strategy of CB Since this year, PPDA has resorted to using

“hands-on-support” instead of the workshops.

This brings in advantages of: Being one to one-personal attachment i.e.

creates more impact than workshops; More people in a PDE can be covered; Specific problems unique to a particular entity

are solved amicably at a PDE level; being more cost-effective More accountability and compliance

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Current number of PDEs 110 - central government 93 – local governments Total: 203 [approx. 200]Notes: Each PDE has a PDU of at least 2-3 staff; There are educational institutions, under MOES,

which number to around 1500. Trained stakeholders since 2003

About 200 training sessions carried out; 0ver 10,000 stakeholders trained;

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Number of stakeholders (S/Hs)There are a number of S/Hs involved in

the procurement process: Accounting officers: 200 Contracts committee members: 1000 Procurement Officers: 400 < X < 600 Users: approx. 200*50= 10,000 Providers: 200*20 = 4,000 The media: 50 Total: 21050 [approx. 21,000] Note: Schools have over 7,500 S/Hs

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Methodology… Sensitisation of stakeholders mainly on

the procurement and disposal law, through workshops using PPDA staff and Consultants;

Hands-on-support to PDEs [new]; Provision of basic office equipments,

flow charts and training materials; Joint programs with MOLG and Policy

Unit; Involving IGG, DEI, Solicitor General in

our activities;

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Methodology… Having a twinning program, under the

NUFFIC project, where two Universities [Kyambogo and MUBS] were supported to start procurement programs [2 masters, 2 bachelors, 2 diploma and 2 short courses] and train their staff up to PhD level [4 masters and 5 PhDs];

Partnership with Uganda Management Institute to train public servants on short term programs

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Regard of the Procurement profession in Uganda Until 2002, procurement was not recognized,

in Uganda, as a profession such as Accounting, Banking, Engineering, Law, etc;

It was conceived with low esteem in which procurement staff were regarded, by other professionals in the PDEs, as non –professionals;

This act frustrated and highly de-motivated the procurement staff and reduced, not only their competitiveness but also that of their entities

This has since changed with increased CB

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Overall approach to procurement capacity building

This has followed analysis of the following: nature and causes of the problems

encountered in public procurement; Extent to which staff development and

training activities can help overcome those problems, such as corruption;

Recruitment, promotion and career development policies for staff concerned with public procurement;

Target groups, training itself and other capacity needs and opportunities for staff in those target groups;

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Current procurement sector labour market issues In Uganda, demand for talented and

experienced procurement professionals is outstripping supply,

Many employers now specify what procurement staff need to know and understand in order to perform productively;

The private sector is “stealing” well trained and experienced officers from the public sector.

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Consequences of lack of CB

Existence of very few procurement professionals or specialists, who can perform to the required standards and best practices;

work is left undone or just done haphazardly and unprofessionally by the “ignorant” staff;

Delayed/defaulted certifying of documents for payments or similar deficiencies in the public procurement cycle;

Inefficient procurement staff that cannot take an organisation to a competitive level of achieving its goals.

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Challenges

Lack of procurement capacity within the PDEs to implement the requirements of the PPDA law;

There is still some degree of resistance to the new public procurement and disposal system amongst some stakeholders;

Slow behaviour Change, especially among some stakeholders;

High demand for training viz a viz PPDA’s capacity;

General lack of adequate human resources in the country to carry out capacity building;

Lack of professionalism by the stakeholders; Poor records keeping or management

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Challenges… Mismanagement of the procurement process

thru: Lack of procurement plans; Lack of capacity to know the progress of the

procurement process; Poor bid documents; Poor statement of requirements; Mishandling of the bidding process e.g.

flouting procurement methods, pre-bid meetings, receiving and opening bids;

Poor bid evaluations; Poor contract management;

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Measures Provided technical advice on “call”

basis; Issued charts on responsibilities of

different stakeholders in a PDE; Issued procurement cycle charts; Issued standard formats of procurement

plans; Developed TOTs to help in CB; Increased demand-driven training on

specific PDE issues;

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Measures…

Increased sensitisation for the CSOs, media and providers;

Offered hands-on-support to the less compliant PDEs;

Introduced procurement education and training standards for training institutions;

Introduced ethics and corruption module; Increased compliance assessment and

audit reviews;

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Way forward To emphasise hands on support to

government entities; Increase use of outsourcing, to

individual consultants, to carry out skills based training;

Establishment of a call centre as a helpline for providers, entities and other key stakeholders;

To continue demand-driven CB in PDEs to enable them undertake their responsibilities in compliance with the PPDA Act;

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Way forward To support the IPPU into growth; To support the implementation of

the procurement education and training standards in Uganda;

Continuous review and development of local procurement trainers

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Sources of FundingGOU PPDA MOLG and LGs Other Govt Institutions

DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS World Bank UNDP Royal Netherlands Government European Union Belgium Government [BTC]

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Conclusion

The region needs to come up with a joint strategy to carry out an efficient and effective capacity building

We call upon the government and development partners to invest more in capacity building to enable the public procurement sector to be efficient;

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Thank You for Your Attention