The Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury, Ramathan Ggoobi, has said public procurement must be treated as a strategic tool for accelerating Uganda’s economic transformation and delivering the country’s ambitious growth targets.
Speaking while officiating at the PPDA Public Procurement Cadre Forum 2026 at Speke Resort Munyonyo on Wednesday, Ggoobi said Uganda’s goal of growing the economy to 500 billion US dollars by 2040 under the National Development Plan IV and the Tenfold Growth Strategy will largely depend on the effective execution of public investments.
“Public procurement must therefore stop being viewed merely as a compliance process. It must become a strategic tool for delivering faster growth, better services, stronger local industries and value for money for Ugandans,” Ggoobi said.
He noted that procurement plays a central role in determining whether government projects are completed on time, within budget, and according to the required standards.
“Procurement determines whether projects are delivered on time, within budget and to the required quality,” he added.
However, Ggoobi raised concern over persistent challenges undermining public procurement performance, including lengthy procurement timelines, delayed projects, weak contract management, cost overruns, fragmented systems and corruption risks.
“These delays are costly to the government, costly to taxpayers and costly to national development,” he said.
The PSST revealed that the government is accelerating the rollout of e-Government procurement systems across Ministries, Departments and Agencies to improve transparency, accountability, efficiency and traceability in public spending.
He said the reforms are also focused on reducing procurement lead times and unnecessary bureaucracy, standardising procurement processes, strengthening contract management and promoting local content participation.
“We need a procurement system that is faster, cleaner, smarter and more professional. A system that delivers projects. A system that inspires public confidence. A system aligned to Uganda’s development agenda,” Ggoobi said.
Earlier, the Executive Director of PPDA Uganda, Benson Turamye, said effective and efficient public procurement has the potential to drive Uganda’s national growth strategy if practical and implementable reforms are adopted.
Turamye noted that about 65 percent of Uganda’s annual budget is spent through public procurement, while the sector contributes between 15 and 20 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.
He said transforming procurement systems would significantly improve service delivery, accountability, and economic growth.
