Institutional challenges affecting Procurement Audit Management at the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (Ppda) in Uganda

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the institutional challenges affecting procurement audit management at the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority’s (PPDA) that had hindered its expansion amongst the Procuring and Disposing Entities (PDEs) countrywide. As of June 2008, PPDA had only conducted forty two (42) procurement audits out since inception. Therefore, the main objective of ensuring transparency, accountability and value for money of government funds in order to reduce corruption in the procurement sector was not fully achieved. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, a sample frame was selected from PPDA staff, consultants contracted to carry out procurement audits and Procurement Officers of audited PDEs. Data was collected using an interview guide, interview checklist, self-administered questionnaire, observation checklist and analysis of secondary data while it was measured using the ordinal scale, the chi-square and regression model analysis. The study established that PPDA received insufficient funds due to budget cuts. Therefore, procurement audits were not funded as required. The PPDA too lacked technical expertise in procurement and also had insufficient human resources and the labour turn over was high. Outsourced firms too lacked capacity as well as the PDU. The structure at PPDA was lean, hence bureaucratic in nature and encouraged collective responsibility. The contingency or situational theory was suitable for the management of procurement audits if PPDA was to cover all government institutions as well as save the country billions of monies lost through misprocurements. There should be increased funding and human resources towards the procurement audit function if PPDA and government were to achieve the desired goal of building confidence in public procurement.