Kampala — PEOPLE intending to procure complex services and goods should employ procurement professionals to get value for money and avoid regretting if anything goes wrong.

"For instance, if the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) officials had crossed the floor on Workers House and asked the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) for the correct procedure, it would have minimised chances of the wrangles going on now," the executive secretary of the Institute of Procurement Professionals (IPPU), Henry Njuba, said.

Njuba said the institute would benefit the public to get value for money while buying or disposing.

He said members would also benefit by having a uniting body from where they can discuss their challenges and come up with solutions.

"It is like other professional bodies, for instance the lawyers, accountants or engineers. It is going to set standards for members and penalties in case of acting against them."

Njuba said the institute would be the focal point for the private sector and set rules for them, the way the PPDA had done for the public sector. He said the move would facilitate public-private partnerships.

He said the institute would also provide the public with a reference point to get genuine professional procurements rather than risk briefcase gamblers.