Stop delaying our payments, suppliers tell govt
Some suppliers and contractors say that their payments sometimes go as long as two years without being paid. Photo / File
What you need to know:
- Government policies stipulate that for any contract awarded, suppliers are expected to be paid within 30 working days.
Government can take as long as a year or more to pay suppliers and contractors, which contravenes its own policies, National Suppliers Forum has said.
Speaking during a conference organised by Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) suppliers and contractors decried the poor and delayed payment system even when they complete works contracted by government ministries, departments and agencies.
Government policies stipulate that for any contract awarded, suppliers are expected to be paid within 30 working days.
However, Mr Eric Babu, of Joy and Eric Enterprises, said government normally takes a lot of time to pay suppliers for contracted works, which makes such entities run into debt and operational inefficiency.
“After you have been awarded a contract, government ministries, departments and agencies begin piling pressure on you to deliver yet they are reluctant to make payments for such works to go on,” he said, noting that sometimes suppliers and contractors undertake work using their own money while others acquire loans, which become difficult to repay due to delayed payments.
However, Mr David Kiyingi, the Ministry of Finance commissioner procurement policy, said government’s payments systems have been disrupted by a reduction in donor support from development partners.
“Development partners used to support us, but now their support has reduced as they have channelled some of the funds to Ukraine-Russia war and address Covid-19 related issues,” he said, noting that giving the existing challenges, government had decided to cancel some contracts so as to find money to pay service providers who have arrears.
Mr Kiyingi also indicated that, sometimes the delayed payments are a result of poor work, which at times is not easily understandable to payment officers.
