1. Leveraging technology and collaborating in the fight against corruption in public procurementBy
Irene Mulyagonja Kakooza
Inspector General of Government
Inspectorate of Government, Kampala

2. Leveraging technology to fight corruption
In most countries procurement of goods, services and works required by government departments consumes a considerable part of government resources.
Uganda’s 2017/2018 budget of 29 trillion allotted UGX11.45 trillion, i.e. about 40% to development expenditure

3. Leveraging technology to fight corruption
This will translate into spending of
Shs4.6 trillion by the MOWT representing 21% of the total budget
Energy and Mineral Development, UGX 2.3 trillion, which is 7.9% of the budget
It is in these high spend areas that most money is lost to corruption

4. Leveraging technology to fight corruption
It involves the behavior of officials in the public and private sectors to improperly and unlawfully enrich themselves and /or those close to them, or induce others to do so, by misusing the position in which they are placed.
When this unlawful and improper behaviour is applied to the public acquisition process, it becomes public procurement corruption.

5. Leveraging technology to fight corruption
Corruption is illegal and creates inequality
it distorts competition and free markets
it incentivises and rewards unethical behaviour
It hinders social and economic growth,
delays the emergence of developing economies
stunts thriving democracies based on good governance and the rule of law.

7. Leveraging technology to fight corruption
The most common forms of procurement corruption in Uganda include:
violations of procurement procedures,
the use of high-ranking officials to influence procurement decision making and
bribery-induced violations of procurement procedures by government officials in collaboration with providers.

8. Leveraging technology to fight corruption
Conflict of interest is the biggest driver of corruption in procurement processes
It is often under rated and sometimes even ignored
Rules and/or laws in place are often not strong enough to deter it
It is supported by cultural and political settings where decision makers feel an obligation to give back to political supporters or family members and friends.

9. Leveraging technology to fight corruption
Collaboration within and outside government results in what is now referred to as “syndicate corruption.”
This involves networks of strategically placed officials who collude to embezzle funds with impunity.

11. Leveraging technology to fight corruption
The role of ICTs are two fold:
Seeking to control and automate government processes, restrict discretion of officials and increase detection of corruption.
Using ICTs to get information on government in the public sphere that focuses on opening up the state and increasing the flow of information from government to citizens, making the actions of the state and its agents more visible to citizens, civil society and the private sector.

12. Leveraging technology to fight corruption
While many initiatives do not primarily and explicitly aim at addressing corruption challenges, there are many expected anti-corruption benefits associated with e-government and following are some of them:
Reducing information asymmetries between office holders and citizens, enabling the latter to assert their rights without corruption interfering.

13. Leveraging technology to fight corruption
Limiting the discretion of office holders, reducing their opportunities to extract bribes.
Streamlining and automating specific processes to reduce interactions between office holders and citizens that can create opportunities for the development of corrupt networks.
Removing intermediaries that often facilitate bribery.

14. Leveraging technology to fight corruption
Reducing red-tape in public bureaucracies and thus remove potential entry points for corruption.
Increasing the transparency of transactions with public officials, making them audit-able to deter corrupt behaviour.
Receiving feedback and reports from service users to regularly track satisfaction, identify problems, report corruption and improve service quality.

15. Leveraging technology to fight corruption
Inspectorate of Government has invested in ICT to aid the fight against corruption:
IG Online Declaration System (IG-ODS) is a system for receiving declarations of leaders under LCA
IG fast track screen tool of the leaders’ income, assets and liabilities will help analyze declarations between years
Report2IG platform is used to receive complaints from the public via SMS at no cost.
IG website has a provision for online reporting of corruption.

16. Leveraging technology to fight corruption
Complaints are also received from the public via social media platforms
IG case management system helps store complaints and analyze IG data to produce reports
It can also be used to gauge performance of officers
ICT has in the recent past been used to receive evidence in court from witnesses abroad.

17. Leveraging technology to fight corruption
Collaboration and coordination of efforts
There are several databases being developed across government with information that is relevant across government, e.g.
Land Management Information System
National Identification System
Revenue and tax collection
Business Registration System
The systems above are crucial in anti- corruption work

18. Leveraging technology to fight corruption
Collaboration across borders:
Recovery of assets is important and sometimes stolen assets cross borders
Development of systems should look towards regional cooperation to support efforts of tracking and arresting the corrupt and stolen assets
Information should flow between countries in the region from the various data bases to aid in investigation of the corrupt and their assets.

19. Leveraging technology to fight corruption
Conclusion
Governments should empower all levels of society by providing training to enable broad participation in e-government services, technology penetration, technology capabilities and access of government agencies, as well as social and technology readiness of citizens.
Legal frameworks, organizational processes, leadership and campaign strategies may all be necessary complements of digital tools in order to secure effective change.