The new amendments in the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Act are geared towards empowering Youth, Women and Persons with Disabilities to get contracts to supply government.

“The special interest groups we are targeting are registered associations of Women, Youth and Persons with Disability. Give them opportunities and I know URA is instrumental in setting the pace,” said Uthman Segawa the Senior Manager, Legal and Board Affairs PPDA while speaking at the Suppliers’ Forum organised by the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) at Hotel Africana.

Segawa explained that once youths, women and PWDs are empowered, they will benefit hugely urging URA to reserve all procurements amounting to UGX 30M and below for this group.

Segawa explained that in the new amendments, Youth, Women and PwD-owned enterprises shall submit a Bid Securing Declaration instead of Bid Security.

The PPDA official also underscored the need to reduce the cost of doing business with the government.

“Following your outcry as suppliers and contractors, we have ultimately eased the cost of doing business with governments by introducing the automated procurement process,” he said.

Ag. URA Commissioner General, Robert Mutebi noted that the recent population census shows that 53% of the population are women and out of the 45.9%, 73.5% are youth.

“I am underscoring these numbers to appreciate the conversation going on, especially with the changes PPDA has driven into the procurement processes to focus on Women, Youth and PwDs because indeed if we don’t, we are not serving the country,” said Mutebi.

He highlighted that Uganda has digital citizens who can submit their bids from anywhere at any time. “We have young people, they are digital citizens and can submit bids from their beds. So today is a good day and our theme is, Building Strategic Partnerships with a Commitment to Service Excellence.”

During the Forum, URA in partnership with PPDA rolled out an iSupplier Portal which suppliers and contractors will use to secure contracts with government.

By Kamugisha Kabahweza Allan