Govt watchdog looks into Karamoja iron sheets prices
The 500 iron sheets that were returned at the warehouse of OPM in Namanve by Parliament Speaker Anita Among on April 13, 2023. PHOTO / ABUBAKER LUBOWA
What you need to know:
- The inquiry is looking into suspicions that OPM may have inflated the cost of the iron sheets.
Already under fire for mismanaging the Shs39 billion Karamoja relief project, the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) is facing even more heat as government watch-dog agencies are looking into its procurement processes.
The Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) is writing a report for the Inspectorate of Government, which should verify if OPM adhered to provisions of the PPDA Act when buying iron sheets for vulnerable people in Karamoja.
A procurement audit into the purchase of thousands of iron sheets for the Karamoja Community Empowerment Programme were opened by the Authority on the request of the Inspectorate.
Mr Benson Turamye, the executive director PPDA, confirmed that investigations were completed yesterday and said a report will be sent to the IGG for action in the next few days.
“The IGG, Ms Beti Kamya, directed us to conduct a procurement audit of the iron sheets so that we synergise the competences in the procurement performance. We are looking forward to see whether this particular procurement followed the PPDA Act,” Mr Turamye said last week.
This ties in with ongoing inquiries by the Inspectorate into the diversion of iron sheets in Karamoja.
The IGG’s line of inquiry, sources said, has been expanded to look into suspicions that the OPM may have inflated the cost of the iron sheets, resulting in the loss of billions of shillings.
Mr Turamye revealed that the PPDA preliminary findings indicate that OPM advertised tenders for potential suppliers of the iron sheets and two companies went through the bidding process.
“Roofings Rolling Mills Ltd and MM Integrated Steel Mills (U) Ltd were considered as the potential bidders. However, MM Integrated Steel Mills (U) Ltd was the lowest bidder in this case,” Mr Turamye said.
Last week, Speaker of Parliament Anita Among returned 500 sheets to OPM in line with a presidential directive ordering whoever illegally benefited from the scam to make good, either in cash, or through replacing what was lost with iron sheets.
She was reportedly made to pay OPM’s quotation of Shs71, 000 per sheet at MM Integrated Steel Mills, a price higher than the average open market cost of Shs42,250.
Before this, OPM had rejected the Speaker’s market price of Shs42, 450 per sheet on grounds that they had a specific steel company, which manufactures sheets of particular specifications. Whoever is returning must buy only from MM Integrated as ordered by OPM.
Mr Turamye said details, including findings on the costs, will be captured in PPDA’s report expected to be out by end of the week.
“We have been reviewing files, doing physical interviews on the relevant officials in the OPM and suppliers. We have not established the market price of the iron sheets purchased by the OPM but after the investigations we shall be able to tell,” he said.
“However, the cost of government assets is sometimes higher due to taxes like VAT and withholding taxes,” he added.
Mr Turamye, however, never commented on the fact that MMI Steel Mills, like any other business, is expected to have already included these levies when setting its commodity price.
The IGG spokesperson, Ms Munira Ali, yesterday said: “Sometimes when the IGG has a more competent authority to conduct an investigation, we do share with them. In this case, they (PPDA) were supposed to investigate the procurement of the iron sheets”.
Background
While appearing before Parliament’s Presidential Affairs Committee last month, the undersecretary at OPM, Mr Geoffrey Sseremba, revealed that OPM spent close to Shs7.2 billion to buy 95,044 pieces of Gauge 28 sand beige-coloured corrugated iron sheets. Efforts to reach Mr Sseremba yesterday were futile as he never answered calls or messages.
