Districts told to open contracts
The government has asked local authorities across Uganda to use public procurement more deliberately to create jobs and expand business opportunities for young people, women and persons with disabilities, as officials push for spending by district and municipal governments to play a bigger role in economic inclusion.
The call was made by the Ministry of Local Government at the close of a series of regional engagements held to help local government officials understand and apply reservation and preference schemes under the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act.
The meetings brought together procurement officers, accounting officers, contracts committee members and community development officials from across the country.
At the centre of the discussions was a practical question: how can government spending at the district level create wider economic opportunities for communities that are often locked out of public contracts?
Officials said procurement should no longer be viewed simply as an administrative process for buying goods and services. Instead, they argued, it should also be used as a policy tool to support local businesses, create employment and spread economic opportunity more evenly.
Speaking during the workshops, Assistant Commissioner for Procurement and Disposal Moses Musinguzi said public spending has become one of government’s strongest tools for supporting local enterprise and creating jobs.
“Public procurement is not just about buying goods and services,” he said.
“It is also about creating jobs and expanding opportunities for local enterprises.”
That matters because local governments control a significant share of public spending. According to ministry officials, more than 60 per cent of local government budgets are spent through procurement.
That includes contracts for roads, school supplies, construction, health facilities and other public services. How those contracts are awarded can directly affect whether small businesses in communities benefit, or whether opportunities continue going mainly to larger, more established firms.
Under the current PPDA framework, at least 15 per cent of procurement opportunities at local government level are reserved for enterprises owned by youth, women and persons with disabilities.
The policy is intended to lower entry barriers for groups that often struggle to compete for government tenders because of financing challenges, limited experience or difficulty meeting administrative requirements.
Officials said women-owned enterprises must meet ownership requirements under the guidelines, while youth- led businesses must be at least 51 per cent owned and fully led by young people.
For ordinary Ugandans, especially small business owners, the policy could affect access to real income opportunities. A district contract to supply furniture, construction materials, catering services or school items can provide a major financial boost to a local enterprise.
That income can then support workers, suppliers and families within the same community. The government says that wider access is especially important at a time when youth unemployment remains a major concern.
Musinguzi said investment in industrial hubs and skills programmes will have limited impact if trained young people are unable to access markets.
“There is no point in training youth if they cannot access markets,” he said, adding that procurement systems should connect directly with practical skills already being developed through government-supported industrial hubs.
The ministry also expressed concern that while reservation schemes already exist in law, implementation remains uneven. In some districts, officials said, procurement plans are still prepared without clearly factoring in the groups meant to benefit.
That gap can mean businesses owned by women, youth and persons with disabilities remain eligible on paper but miss out in practice.
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المصدر: The Observer (Uganda)