UGANDA: Government to introduce strict procurement guidelines for oil firms

By Agencies

Oil companies that intend to procure services within the country will be subjected to strict procurement guidelines which is a shift from the current practice where they have been setting their own standards.

The current practice, which signifies the absence of government regulation of the new oil industry, has attracted criticism from a section of the public citing unfair procurement guidelines used by some oil companies.

Mr Jonathan Namara, a local contractor in Kampala, said on Monday that the procurement practice by most of oil companies makes it difficult for the local service providers to meet the standard set in pre-qualification requirements, something that automatically favours international service providers.

Mr Vincent Mugaba, the Public Relations Officer at the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority—PPDA, said there has been no procurement guidelines for petroleum companies meaning each company was applying its own procurement procedures.

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development is drafting uniform procurement guidelines to be followed by all the oil companies. A senior officer at the Procurement Unit of the ministry said  the draft guidelines are being vetted by the government and oil companies before PPDA approves the final copy.

Most of the oil companies have for instance been using the European Union standards as quality requirement benchmark, which service providers needed to follow.

Justice Irene Mulyagonja, the Inspector General of Government, recently said the government would harmonise procurement guidelines for oil companies with those provided by the PPDA to ensure uniformity. She was responding to complaints by a section of the public that foreign companies receive unnecessary favours.

Source: Daily Monitor (30/10/2012):  http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Government+to+introduce+strict+procurement/-/688334/1606672/-/hna0wl/-/index.html