Kampala — The Prime Minister of Uganda, Mr. Amama Mbabazi has said improved procurement services would be the solution to better teachers' pay.

He was speaking at the opening of a two-day Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) symposium at Speke Resort Munyonyo, Kampala.

Mbabazi said approximately 55% of the government budget is spent through procurement, from this year's budget about Shs6,000 billion will be spent through procurement.

"By saving just 2% through efficient procurement we can raise Shs120 billion which is enough to increase teachers' salaries by 15%," he said.

With this same savings from better procurement processes the prime minister noted that half of the Ush200b that Parliament is seeking to hire more health workers could also be realized.

The PPDA Symposium was attended by over 200 Procurement professionals and stakeholders from both Public and Private sectors, from East Africa.

"This Symposium is extremely significant for Uganda and for the region because during these two days we will begin discussions on the Procurement Reforms over the last fifteen (15) years under which the PPDA was established," said Cornelia Sabiiti, the Executive Director of PPDA.

The stakeholders at the Symposium are members of the general public, who are being encouraged to contribute to the review of the Procurement Reforms and the Procurement Act in order to strengthen Public Procurement laws, practices and procedures.

Uganda's entire public administration is under the PPDA Act, which the authority regards as a big step in the right direction.

"More efforts need to be made to ensure that the law is applied as it is spelt out in the Act," said Sabiiti.

Currently PPDA is working together with other relevant authorities such as the Office of the Inspector General of Government, the Uganda Police, the Office of the Attorney General and the Local Governments to ensure the law is respected and procurement processes are heeded to.