Dear Readers, visitors, friends and partners,
I am honored to welcome you to the official site of the Uganda Contracts Monitoring Coalition (UCMC). Established in 2011, the Uganda Contracts Monitoring Coalition (UCMC) is a non-partisan multi-stakeholders’ initiative established to promote contract performance through promoting transparency, participatory approaches and accountability in the planning, bidding, awarding, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of Contracts.
UCMC is a voluntary, charitable and not for profit loose network. It is a part of an Africa-wide movement to promote transparency and accountability in the development and implementation of public contracts. Since 2011, we have been working with the Ugandan Government to promote value for money in public procurement through monitoring of public contracts. We are proud that our work and partners has been able to bear some fruits by making Uganda part of a global recognition that disclosure and citizen participation in public contracting are essential for enhancing value for money, improving services, promoting fair business practices. Uganda began to publish procurement data on Government Procurement Portal, aligned to the Open Contracting Data Standard which sets an example for other African governments to venture out on the journey for a more open, transparent and accountable public procurement system together with civil society.
Collaboration has been a crucial element of this achievement from the very beginning. Our partners such as the Uganda Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA), Global Partnership for Social Accountability (GPSA), Open Contracting Partnership (OCP), Africa Freedom of Information Centre (AFIC) are also credited for this success.
We are cautious that Data disclosure is not an end in itself. As the disclosure of data continues to increase, our focus going forward shall be about increasing use of disclosed data, sustaining disclosure and strengthening the engagement between government, civil society organizations, procurement entities, and the PPDA to be able to have the desired change we would need to see.
This website provide a platform for sharing information not only about our work but also relevant regional and global experiences regarding contracts transparency. These experiences are a combination of interventions, approaches and methodologies, Tools and checklists, lessons, and feedback from the beneficiaries-the citizens. We are grateful to our membership for the dedication and commitment to generating and sharing knowledge on contracts monitoring and for the work they do to achieve this dream.
You are invited to our site, and I hope you will find it useful.
Twebaze Paul – Chairperson