PUBLIC PROCUREMENT AUDITS AND PREVENTION OF CORRUPTION A CASE

OF MBARARA DISTRICT LOCAL GOVERNMENT

BY: KAVUMA ANDREW

REG: 2020/BPSM/068/PS

A CONCEPT PAPER SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND

MANAGEMENT SCIENCE AT MBARARA UNIVERSITY OF SCEINCE AND
TECHINOLOGY IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE
AWARD OF BACHELORS DEGREE OF PROCUREMENT

AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

SUPERVISED BY:

MR: MUHWEZI ALEX

FEBRUARY, 2023
 CHAPTER ONE

1.1 Back ground of the study

Corruption is a global menace that affects corporate credibility and economic sustainability as
well as personal security. There is a rising admission that corruption is prevalent within the local
government systems and their procurement processes in particular. There is ample evidence
across the world that corruption hinders economic development; reduces social services; diverts
investment in infrastructure and social services and impacts the poor disproportionately AMINU,
D. B., & Ella, J. R. (2019).

It is worth to note that, corruption in public procurement is at all levels of government at all
national and sub-national levels across the world. Fazekas, M., & Blum, J. R. (2021), suggested that
decentralizing public procurement narrows the scope for corruption. The assumption to this is
that politicians and civil servants in most of the countries are more accountable to the citizens
they serve; they are more in touch with specific needs and contexts of their constituencies and
have pressure from the electorates on quality services.

Within east Africa, Uganda tops in corruption among the five countries under the East African
community (EAC), a report by Transparency International has revealed the East African Bribery
Index 2021 launched Thursday afternoon in Kampala ranks Tanzania and Kenya in second and
third positions respectively. Burundi was ranked fourth as Rwanda continues to record the best
record in fighting corruption. A total of 9,303 respondents, mainly urban based and aged
between 30 to 49 years, were sampled across the five countries in the survey conducted between
March and May last year.

Consequently, Uganda registered the highest bribery levels with a percentage value of 40.7%,
while Tanzania had 39.1%, Kenya 29.5%. Burundi, the worst ranked country last year recorded a
significantly lower index of 18.8% this year. With an aggregate index of 2.5%, Rwanda
remained the least bribery-prone country in the region. In Uganda, police remains the top most
corrupt institution followed by the judiciary, tax services and the land services sectors. Also
vulnerable are the registry and licensing services, city and district local governments in the
health and education sectors.
While discussing research findings regarding public procurement corruption and how carrying
out procurement audits can reduce this in Uganda, the anti-corruption experts attributed the
problem in Uganda mainly to inadequate political will to fight corruption coupled with low
salaries for civil servants in government. This shows that Uganda is not making any serious
strides in the fight against corruption despite having the Anti-Corruption (Amendment) Act,
2015 (Act 21 of 2015) and therefore carrying out public procurement audits would have a direct
and significant impact on the overall economic situation of the country, and consequently lead to
savings on the already over-stretched budget. This gives credence to the growing interest in
studies related to corruption and its associated practices in public procurement and how it can
curbed down hence a reason for this study.

1.2 Problem Statement

There are claims of high corruption levels in public procurement especially in procurement of
works, award of contracts, supplier selection and supply of goods and services and this has been
attributed to lack of strong procurement rules and procedures, regulatory policies and penalties to
corrupt official in in government. PASCAL, A. N. (2022), that, the existing anti-corruption
action has only produced a mountains of words with little results in terms of positive change to
this course. Komakech, R. A. (2019) also reported manifestation of collusion between bidders
and procurement officers and non-adherence to the principle of confidentiality as breading
grounds of corruption in procurement systems in Uganda. It is in this regard therefore that the
researcher pursuits to identify solutions to this underlying problem by studying how best
carrying out of public procurement audits can curb corruption in procurement systems in Uganda
with a case of Mbarara district local government.
1.3 Purpose of the study

The major aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between public procurement audits
and corruption prevention in Uganda specifically focusing on Mbarara district local government
for the study.

1.4 Research Objectives

1. To examine the impact of public procurement audits on procurement performance in

Uganda, a case of Mbarara district local government.
2. To examine reasons for persisting corruption battles in procurement systems in Uganda
despite government interventions, case of Mbarara district local government.
3. To examine the role of sound procurement policies in fight against corruption in
Uganda, a case of Mbarara district local government.

1.5 Research Questions

In pursuit of solutions to the foregoing phenomenon, the research considers the following
questions:

1. What is the impact of public procurement audits on procurement performance in Uganda,

a case of Mbarara district local government?
2. Why do corruption battles persist in procurement systems in Uganda despite government
interventions, case of Mbarara district local government?
3. What is the role of sound procurement policies in fight against corruption in Uganda, a
case of Mbarara district local government?

1.6 Significance of the study

The intention of this research is to contribute to the existing body of knowledge about the state of
public procurement policy and its development, corruption tendencies and how public audits can
curb corruption in procurement institutions, whilst emphasizing inputs and transformational
processes operating in the implementation of the Ugandan public procurement policy framework
that can also help to curb the inherent corrupt practices. This research will also aim at identifying
findings that may as well be used for legislative review advocacy in the current public
procurement law and policy framework review.

1.6 Scope of the Study

1.6.1 Content scope

This research aims at seeking the opinion of stakeholders in assessing capacity of public
procurement and the extent of corruption being caused by lack of the same. The stakeholders in
question include but not limited to the Office of Public Procurement and disposal of public assets
Mbarara, office of the IGG, Public procuring entities, some Non-governmental organizations and
development partners and also suppliers and contractors where there is supplier induced
corruption in procurement.

1.6.2 Geographical scope

The study will be carried out from Mbarara district local government which is located in
southwestern part of Uganda and the case is considered because Mbarara district is one of the
poor performing district in the region which could be affiliated to corruption and poor
procurement practices and systems in place.

1.6.3 Time scope

The research study will take a time frame of eight months that is; February to September 2023
and this period is considered because it’s the time fame for proposal writing, data collection and
review, analysis and presentation and then dissertation writing as per by the university
guidelines.

1.7 Assumptions and limitations

This research puts the following assumptions:-

Politicians are culprits of corruption in public procurement through their influence

Having proper regulations is the starting point towards addressing corrupt practices in public
procurement

Capacity development of procurement practitioners can prevent corruption in procurement

Continuous monitoring, auditing and enforcement of procurement processes and issues of
compliance to regulations can assist in curbing corruption because some members of the general
public may not know the impact of their actions towards effectiveness of procurement systems.

1.8 Structure of the research study

This study is organised to provide a systematic flow of information that complements each other
from the first to the last chapters. In addition to the introduction, the first chapter also presents
the problem statement, research proposition, research objectives and research questions,
significance of the study, scope of the study and assumptions of the study. This research is on the
study that has obviously been investigated before; as such chapter two will present the literature
review to highlight what other researchers have discovered before. In chapter three the
methodology of the research will be presented in form of the research design, research strategy
the sampling frame and data collection methodology: Chapter four will present the findings and
data analysis results in two categories namely: quantitative data as deduced from questionnaires
and qualitative data obtained from interviews. Chapter five will include the conclusion,
acceptance of the proposition, recommendations, area of further research and a summary of the
study.
References

AMINU, D. B., & Ella, J. R. (2019). EFFECT OF CORRUPTION AND FRAUD IN PUBLIC
PROCUREMENT IN NIGERIA. LAPAI INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ADMINISTRATION, 2(2).AMINU, D.
B., & Ella, J. R. (2019). EFFECT OF CORRUPTION AND FRAUD IN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT IN
NIGERIA. LAPAI INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ADMINISTRATION, 2(2).

Fazekas, M., & Blum, J. R. (2021). Improving Public Procurement Outcomes.

PASCAL, A. N. (2022). The Repression of the Crime of Corruption in Cameroon: The

Ineffectiveness of the Measures and the Way Forward.

Komakech, R. A. (2019). Corruption in Public Procurement in Uganda: What to Do?.

In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conferences on Governance and Service Delivery in
Developing Economies.