The dos and don’ts in modern bidding

Mr Ronald Tumuhairwe, the manager capacity building at Public Procurement and Disposable of Public Assets Authority (PPDA), says one should always submit bids on time from the time the procuring entity places tender notices. This is because there is usually a time frame for the tendering process, and late bids are always not be accepted.

Requirements
“A service provider should always submit in accordance to the technical requirements of the solicitation or the bidding document in order to have high chances of winning a tender,” Mr Tumuhairwe says.
According to him, one should also submit a bid in the right form, right address and the right number of copies of the bid as it is required by the bidding document.
He adds service providers should always give accurate and reliable information because in many cases they often submit forged bid documents in order to increase chances of winning a tender.
Mr Ronnie Kyeyune the procurement officer at Uganda Human Rights Commission supports timely submission in increasing one’s chances of winning a tender.
He says this is important because it gives the bidder ample time to prepare and avoid rush hour submissions.
He also says: “One of the important things service providers should do is to always seek for clarity when issues are contentious from the procuring entity since the law allows them to seek for it.”
According to him, there is also need for familiarisation with the requirements like legal documents, experience that are always stated in a bid document so service providers should always review the document again not to assume it is the usual requirement.

The don’ts
According to Mr Tumuhairwe, bribing officers in charge of bids for favours to win a bid should never be done by any service provider since it comes with serious implications such as termination of registration.
“Provision of inaccurate unreliable information to the buyer or the procuring entity should be seriously avoided by service providers in order to increase chances of winning a tender,” he says.
Meanwhile, Mr Kyeyune says service providers should avoid proposing names of professionals on their team when submitting a bid. That because a person did a previous job does not necessarily mean you just pick the CV without his or her consent.
He adds that service providers should not submit disorganised documents where a bidder has all requirements but he or she has disorganised bid documents.
Mr Kyeyune says bidders should also avoid stalking procurement officers because this creates discomfort which may make you lose out on the deal.

Corrupt and fraudulent practices in bidding

• According to the PPDA law, all don’ts contravene with the principles of public procurement. Among them are:
  Insufficient or inadequate advertising
  
• Excessively short bidding time
• Collusion among bidders to establish an artificial non-competitive bid price
• A public officer offering or receiving gifts of substantial value to influence the procurement process
  Another area that bidders must guard against is conflict of interest.
  Such conflicts can arise from, say, two bidders using the same accounting firm to prepare their annual audited financial statements. Here, the procuring entity finds a challenge in deciding which bidder to give business.
• Another situation is when staff involved in the procurement process has a direct or indirect relationship with a bidder seeking to offer a service.