Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

Mapping Report for Uganda Government Procurement Portal

November 2016

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Contents

Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 4

From Policy to Action .................................................................................................................................... 4

Methodology ................................................................................................................................................. 5

Findings ......................................................................................................................................................... 6

Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................... 8

Appendix: Existing data gaps identified ........................................................................................................ 9

Missing Items in Buyer section ................................................................................................................ 9

Missing Items in Planning Section ........................................................................................................... 9

Missing Items in Tender Section .............................................................................................................. 9

Missing Items in Milestones Section ....................................................................................................... 9

Missing items in Amendments Section ................................................................................................... 9

Missing Items in Awards Section ........................................................................................................... 10

Missing Items in Suppliers Section ........................................................................................................ 10

Missing Items in Contracts Section ........................................................................................................ 10

Annex 1 – List of district in which AFIC is monitoring public projects ........................................................ 11

Annex 2 – List of documents to publicly disclosed ..................................................................................... 12

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Introduction

Since 2011, AFIC has collaborated with Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA) in

promoting value for money in public contracting through citizens' access to information and public

participation (open contracting). Through this partnership, the Uganda Contracts Monitoring Coalition

(UCMC) was established, its members trained on basic procurement laws, tools for citizen monitoring of

contracts developed and proposals made for policy reforms. At the beginning of 2015, AFIC and its UCMC

partners with funding from the World Bank's Global Partnership for Social Accountability (WB-GPSA)

Programme commenced implementation of a four-year project to enhance accountability and

performance of social service contracts, particularly in health, education and agriculture sectors in

Uganda. This has been augmented by other AFIC initiatives supported by Sida, Oxfam and CoST.

From Policy to Action

In June 2016, AFIC with support from HIVOS and the Open Contracting Partnership (OCP) conducted an

open contracting scoping study. The major finding was that through various transparency policies and

practices, Uganda had made significant progress towards increased disclosure and citizen engagement in

public contracting. The proactive disclosure of procurement information through the Government

Procurement Portal (GPP), PPDA commitment in its strategic plan to promote citizen monitoring of public

contracts and Government plans to establish an e-procurement system were found to present greater

opportunities for open contracting. This is consistent with Article 38 of the Constitution which guarantees

the right of every citizen to participate in and influence government policies and activities.

Open contracting initiatives do not limit themselves to improve public disclosure but also to encourage

public participation in using both the information generated, and holding accountable responsible

entities. It relies on a partnership between government, the private sector and civil society to ensure that

there is transparency in the delivery of public funded projects. These efforts will increase performance

and value for money in public procurement. PPDA has made significant commitments in its current

strategic plan to "promote civil society monitoring of contracts" and has signed a Memorandum of

Understanding with UCMC in this regard.

Based on the experience in districts and preliminary review of the GPP, in September 2016, AFIC engaged

PPDA in a letter, welcoming the proactive disclosure of procurement information and suggesting areas for

further attention:

a) Need for GPP to cover more agencies particularly District Local Governments where AFIC and its

UCMC partners are monitoring contracts.

b) Need to align GPP with Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

c) Harmonisation of procurement information provided through GPP and ATI requests.

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In a follow-up discussion with PPDA Compliance Manager, it was acknowledged with appreciation receipt

of this letter and noted that some of the recommendations were being addressed. It was also agreed that

AFIC initiative in mapping GPP against OCDS would produce a report for discussion with PPDA.

In a separate communication, PPDA Deputy Executive Director expressed commitment to align GPP with

OCDS but indicated needs for capacity support.

In another meeting with PPDA Director of Capacity Building and Advisory Services, further areas of

collaboration in training of citizen monitors and district stakeholders were agreed. AFIC and PPDA also

concurred in maintaining close links in respect of AFIC obtaining contracting information on various

entities as well as information sharing. In that regard, PPDA encourage AFIC to share a list of the district

in which it is monitoring public contracts. The list that was shared later on with PPDA compliance manager

is presented in Annex !.

These efforts and commitments illustrate a trend for improvement on Open Contracting and provide for

new opportunities to strengthen disclosure processes and citizen participation. If these initiatives and

commitments were to be fully implemented, it would result in a significant progress towards good

governance and transparency.

As already stated above, the objective of public disclosure is to empower citizen participation in

contracting processes. Thus, disclosure has to be done in formats and specifications that allow for

effective participation. In view of this and follow-up engagements with PPDA, AFIC has carried out a

detailed mapping of GPP to determine the extent to which the GPP is aligned to OCDS, thus enabling

citizen participation.

Methodology

Open Contracting Data Standard is a global, non-proprietary data standard structured to reflect the

complete contracting cycle. The standard enables users and partners around the world to publish

shareable, reusable, machine-readable data, to join that data with their own information, and to create

tools to analyse or share that data.

The data standard was designed and developed through an open process. It is focused on connecting up

the data or documents that governments collect with the needs of users who want to help fix problems,

analyse public contracting, and innovate the way contracts are made and delivered.

When information on different stages of the contracting process is managed in different systems, a data

broker layer (software system) can be established which extracts data from each of these systems and

ties it together using common identifiers, to publish OCDS data. This may be achieved by modifying each

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system to output OCDS data, and then broker layers need minimal functionality, or it may be achieved by

developing the broker layer to perform a full extract, transform, and load process on data from each

system.

Mapping data fields from existing systems to the OCDS schema is a key step in any OCDS implementation.

Using a template based on the OCDS v1.0 schema available as open data on OCP website, AFIC identified

the access and location of each information field listed.

Findings

We commend PPDA for establishing the GPP and ensuring that procurement data is available across all

the stages of the procurement process. The following points highlight the positive realisations about GPP.

1. The portal has data on procurement plans, tender, award and status of the contract.

2. Under procurement plans, names of procuring entities and disposing units are provided, as well as

quantity of the items, subject of procurement, procurement type, procurement method source of

funds and estimated costs not forgetting that the format of the document uploaded is easily editable

and accessed.

3. It also disclose information on disposal plans and notices which provide the suppliers and interested

bidders to take part in the different competitions for selecting the best bidders.

4. These notices also give clear information on where to deliver the different documents needed for the

contracting process.

5. Under current tenders, the portal gives information on the available tenders, the procurement

entities, and the deadline for application which are very important to both the public and the

interested bidders.

6. The portal also gives information on the awards, the suppliers that have been awarded the different

lots, the starting date and the date when they are expected to finish the constructions in the different

areas.

7. The portal also shows the providers that have been suspended the days remaining to recover from

the suspension and the reason for their suspension.

We also acknowledge and track the progressive changes that have been occurring within the portal during

the mapping period as follows:

1. The addition of information on the portal for instance in the excel document of the current tenders,

several fields like the starting and ending dates of the contract awarded were added.

2. Under the disposal plans and notices, we noticed that information was added showing with details

about the bid notices and the location of the tenders.

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3. The section of the signed contracts has been fully enriched with useful information to the public, the

contractors and the suppliers.

4. Most of the fields that are needed are included within the GPP portal, and we thank PPDA for the

great work done and providing information to the public.

Based on the above findings we recommend that:

1. A consistent identifier number is given to each contracting process and used consistently across all

the stages of the contracting process. It is very important to help cross-reference, link and put in

perspective information from different stages.

2. A range of documents listed in annex 2 may be disclosed at different stages of the contracting process

where they are applicable to the type of contracting process being run. It should be published online

on a stable web address and without restrictions on access. This would ensure accessibility to the

participants and make it easy for them to participate.

3. The system should record official company registration numbers for bidders and companies awarded

contracts to. This will enable the contractors and the participants know if the companies are

registered or not.

4. The rationale of procurement should be provided as to enable understand the choice of the

procurement method.

5. Award Criteria details should be provided in a free text description to understand how the successful

supplier will be selected.

6. Milestones should be provided and describe the key deliverables of a contract, or key points during

the lifetime of the contract. We recommend that the implementation milestones should be included,

posted and updated to reflect when they are met within the GPP portal. These help the participants

know what to expect from the suppliers, for example, to know if the suppliers are meeting the

appropriate standards of the project.

7. The amendments, the most recent known value, could be included in the compiled records because

it's not possible to indicate all the former values. And also the date the document was last modified.

8. A link showing the details about the service provider under (GPP-signed contracts-export this page->

Excel document) under service provider to show the name, address, region, postal code, contact,

email address, etc.

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9. Classification should be drawn from existing scheme or list of code. We recommend that if items have

a scheme, it’s should be identified to make comprehensive their classification. Specific additional

identifiers should also be listed to ease the work of data entry and identify items within their

classification scheme.

10. That system should classify line-items against goods and services classifications.

11. To ensure greater compliance and citizen engagement by procurement entities, PPDA should work

with Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development so that disbursements of funds is

linked to disclosure and citizen engagement. In addition, PPDA should foster closer greater

collaboration with Office of the Prime Minister so that open contracting is a central topic at Barazas.

12. Gaps of information in the different sections, Buyer, Planning, Tender, Award and Contract as per

identified in the Appendix should also be addressed. The definitions of missing fields can be access

on the following link OCDS documentation1 and help understand the nature of the information

missing.

Conclusion Uganda's Constitution under Article 38 and 41 guarantees' citizens' rights to participation and access to

information. Through initiatives such as the Access to Information Act, Government Procurement Portal,

e-procurement policy and system, Barazas (Public Forums), the Government of Uganda has made

important progress on the road to opening contracts. Open contracting is about citizens being able to

access and use data at all stages of the contracting cycle. Currently some data at different stages of the

process is not being published, leading to the limited use of published data. In addition, up to 70% of the

agencies are yet to be enrolled on the GPP while most agencies are yet to embrace citizen engagement in

respective policies and programmes. PPDA has provided leadership in advancing citizens engagement and

proactive disclosure of contracting data, and this should be emulated by all agencies. AFIC deeply

appreciates its collaboration with PPDA and other Government agencies.

1 http://standard.open-contracting.org/latest/en/schema/reference/

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Appendix: Existing data gaps identified

During the mapping process of GPPs’ alignment with OCDS, several gaps were identified that would need

urgent attention to ensure disclosure for effective public participation in contracting. The mapping

identified the following information missing:

Missing Items in Buyer section - Buyer/identifier

- Buyer/identifier/scheme

- Buyer/identifier/id

- Buyer/contact point/name

- Buyer/contact point/email

- Buyer/contact point/telephone

- Buyer/contact point/fax number

Missing Items in Planning Section - Planning/rationale

- Planning/Budget

- Planning/Budget/Source

- Planning/Documents

- Planning/Documents/id

Missing Items in Tender Section - Tender/id

- Tender/Procurement Method Rationale

- Tender/award/criteria

- Tender/has Enquiries

- Tender/eligibility criteria

- Tender/item/classification

- Tender/item/classification/scheme

Missing Items in Milestones Section - Tender/millstone/documents

- Tender/milestone/document/url

- Tender/milestone/document date modified

- Tender/milestone/document date published

Missing items in Amendments Section - Tender/Amendment

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- Tender/amendment/date

- Tender/amendment/changes

- Tender/amendment/former value

- Tender/amendment/rationale

Missing Items in Awards Section - Awards/id

- Award/title

- Award/description

- Award/status

- Award/date

Missing Items in Suppliers Section - Award/supplier/identifier

- Award/supplier/scheme

- Award /supplier/id

- Award/supplier/additional identifier

- Award/supplier/uri

- Award/supplier/address

- Award/supplier/email

- Award/supplier/telephone

- Award/supplier/region

- Award/supplier/postal code

Missing Items in Contracts Section - Contract/implementation/transaction/uri

- Contract/implementation/milestone

- Contracts/implementation/transactions

- Contracts/implementation/transactions/receiver Organization/scheme

- Contracts/implementation/transactions/provider Organization

- Contracts/implementation/transactions/id

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Annex 1 – List of district in which AFIC is monitoring public projects

The list below identifies the 23 districts where AFIC and its partners are implementing contract

monitoring.

Arua,

Nebbi,

Koboko,

Yumbe,

Adjumani

Gulu,

Nwoya,

Pader,

Lamwo

Agago

Soroti,

Kumi,

Serere

Kotido

Kaabong

Ntungamo,

Mityana,

Mubende,

Nakaseke,

Kabale,

Rukungiri,

Kanungu

Kisoro

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Annex 2 – List of documents recommended to publicly disclosed2

This list suggested by Open Contracting Partnership in regard to OCDS, provide details of the documents

that publishers may wish to disclose at various stages of their contracting process.

Category Code Title Description Source

basic Tender Notice Tender Notice

The formal

notice that gives

details of a

tender. This may

be a link to a

downloadable

document, to a

web page, or to

an official

gazette in which

the notice is

contained.

basic awardNotice Award Notice

The formal

notice that gives

details of the

contract award.

This may be a

link to a

downloadable

document, to a

web page, or to

an official

gazette in which

the notice is

contained.

basic contractNotice Contract Notice

The formal

notice that gives

details of a

contract being

signed and valid

to start

2 http://standard.open-contracting.org/latest/en/schema/codelists/#document-type

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Category Code Title Description Source

implementation.

This may be a

link to a

downloadable

document, to a

web page, or to

an official

gazette in which

the notice is

contained.

basic Completion Certificate Completion

certificate

basic Procurement Plan Procurement Plan

basic Bidding Documents Bidding Documents

Information for

potential

suppliers,

describing the

goals of the

contract (e.g.

goods and

services to be

procured), and

the bidding

process.

basic Technical Specifications Technical

Specifications

Detailed

technical

information

about goods or

services to be

provided.

basic Evaluation Criteria Evaluation Criteria

Information

about how bids

will be

evaluated.

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Category Code Title Description Source

intermediate Evaluation Reports Evaluation report

Report on the

evaluation of the

bids and the

application of

the evaluation

criteria,

including the

justification fo

the award

intermediate Contract Signed Signed Contract

intermediate Contract Arrangements Arrangements for

ending contract

intermediate Contract Schedule Schedules and

milestones

intermediate Physical Process Report Physical progress

reports

A report on the

status of

implementation,

usually against

key milestones.

intermediate Financial Progress Report Financial progress

reports

Dates and

amounts of stage

payments made

(against total

amount) and the

source of those

payments,

including cost

overruns, if any.

Structured

versions of this

data can be

provided

through

transactions.

intermediate finalAudit Final Audit

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Category Code Title Description Source

intermediate Hearing Notice Public Hearing

Notice

Details of any

public hearings

that took place

as part of the

planning for this

procurement.

intermediate Market Studies Market Studies

intermediate Eligibility Criteria Eligibility Criteria

Detailed

documents about

the eligibility of

bidders.

intermediate clarifications Clarifications to

bidders questions

Including replies

to issues raised

in pre-bid

conferences.

intermediate Shortlisted Firms Shortlisted Firms

advanced Environmental Impact Environmental

Impact

advanced Asset And Liability

Assessment

Assessment of

government’s assets

and liabilities

advanced Risk Provisions

Provisions for

management of

risks and liabilities

advanced Winning Bid Winning Bid

advanced complaints Complaints and

decisions

advanced Contract Annex Annexes to the

Contract

advanced Contract Guarantees Guarantees

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Category Code Title Description Source

advanced Sub Contract Subcontracts

A document

detailing

subcontracts, the

subcontract

itself, or a linked

OCDS document

describing a

subcontract.

advanced Needs Assessment Needs Assessment

advanced Feasibility Study Feasibility study

advanced Project Plan Project plan

advanced Bill Of Quantity Bill Of Quantity

advanced bidders Information on

bidders

Information on

bidders or

participants,

their validation

documents and

any procedural

exemptions for

which they

qualify

advanced Conflict Of Interest conflicts of interest

uncovered

advanced debarments debarments issued