Government integration is crucial for e-procurement - Nita

Mr James Saaka, the executive director National Information Technology Authority, has said for the electronic government procurement system to work, government systems must be integrated.
Government system integration is a segment of the regional communications infrastructure system.

Addressing government institutions on the importance of coordination, Mr Saaka said the electronic government procurement system will be ineffective if government systems are not integrated.
“Egp needs integration with the private sector, needs integration with e-biz(platform housed by Uganda Investment Authority), national ID and several systems for it to work effectively otherwise we cannot achieve much,” he said.

The EGP is an online system that will facilitate government transparency through availing all procurement related information to the public.

The system is an initiative of government and World Bank through a combined investment of $85m.
European Dynamics SA, a Norwegian company was contracted last year as the vender of the system at a fee of $998,000 (Shs3.7b).

Through the Egp, bidders will receive tenders online and issue any complaints via the same platform.
The platform will be futile, Mr Saaka says if the cost of internet is not reduced. Currently, internet costs $70 per mega byte for large consumers.

Delays
However, the Egp which was earlier scheduled to be piloted in January may take longer to realise.
The delays have been attributed to top financier, World Bank. Mr Saaka at the meeting urged World Bank to address delays in reviewing mobile Identification lest the EGP will be delayed.

In her response, Ms Grace Munanura, the World Bank representative on the project, said the delays were because of technical requirements of the new systems.
“There are new systems introduced in Uganda and naturally, there are some technical requirements in the system which need refinement thus prolonging the review,” she justified the delay saying the mobile ID is one of the components that have reached acceptable standards.