CMNT_TITLE

Labour Clauses (Public Contracts) Convention, 1949 (No. 94) - Uganda (RATIFICATION: 1963)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Insertion of labour clauses in public contracts. The Committee has been drawing the Government’s attention for a number of years to the fact that the Convention covers not only contracts for public works but also public contracts for the supply of goods and services, and that therefore measures should be taken to apply the Convention to these kinds of public contracts, for instance by extending to them the General Notice No. 9 of 1963 concerning fair wages in government contracts. Despite some initial indications provided by the Government in 1990 that all relevant ministries would be advised accordingly, no subsequent information was ever communicated reporting concrete progress in these matters.

In addition, the Committee notes that the public procurement legislation has undergone a major reform through the adoption of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act, 2003, and the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Regulations, 2003. The Committee understands that the reform of the legislative framework principally aimed at the establishment of a central organ for state administration in all matters of public procurement – the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) – in order to foster transparency, accountability and effectiveness in the procurement process. The Committee observes, however, that the new public procurement legislation, which contains very detailed provisions on all stages of the bidding and selection process, does not set out any standards concerning the labour conditions applicable to workers engaged in the execution of public contracts.

In view of these legislative changes, the Committee seriously doubts whether the General Notice No. 9 of 1963, which previously gave effect to the requirements of the Convention, and the standard Contract Agreement and Schedules of Conditions for Building Works, which had been communicated by the Government in its 1978 report, are still in effect. The Committee accordingly requests the Government to provide all necessary clarifications in this respect. Moreover, noting that under the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act, the PPDA is responsible for, inter alia, adopting common specification standards to be used by procurement entities, preparing standardized bidding documents and procedural forms, and also monitoring the performance of the public procurement system, the Committee requests the Government to take all appropriate action to ensure that the new public procurement legislation expressly provides for the insertion of labour clauses in public contracts in accordance with the requirements of the Convention.