Investigating Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) and the Procurement of Projects. A Case of Oil and Gas Industry of Uganda.

Abstract: The study examines Uganda's projects procurement procedures for the oil and gas industry. The objectives of the study were; to assess the extent to which Uganda’s oil and gas legal and policy frameworks reflect the best practices in procurement, to examine the institutional responsibilities on the procurement of projects in the oil and gas sector in Uganda and to examine the factors that affect compliance to PPP procurement practices of oil and gas projects in Uganda. The study's conclusions indicate that the legal framework has omissions and commissions of significant details that have persisted in being unclear, which has limited the exercise's ability to be implemented. In order to have the effective and efficient operation of the national oil and gas sector, there are issues with governance, institutional, economic, and information sharing requirements. Additionally, there are concerns about having a minister draft contracts when they lack the necessary competencies, as well as consequences for failing to share information about aspects of the legal framework that are not specified in the law. The study's second objective revealed that many institutions had not performed their roles and responsibilities to a high standard. The study attributed this to a number of factors, including executive involvement in technical work, inadequate government funding, and a government unwillingness to provide information freely so that monitoring and evaluation could be used to identify and address shortcomings. According to the analysis, there are numerous occasions where excellent practices have not been followed. This is primarily due to the non-closure of information right from applications, the bidding, contracts. A key component of PPP that is essential for value for money is competition, and this has been undermined by the failure to uphold transparency as a good practice.