Wakilii

Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority v Peace Gloria (CIVIL APPEAL No. 0006 OF 2016)

High Court · [2017] UGHCCD 11 · 2017 Appeal Partly Allowed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Appeal from PPDA Appeals Tribunal decision on administrative review of procurement decision
Decision
Appeal succeeded only on the issue of improper award of costs; PPDA Tribunal's substantive decision on procurement irregularities upheld

Observed later treatment

Cited — treatment unverified cited in 2 (treatment unverified) Sequitur — Uganda’s citator · Derived from citing cases in the Wakilii corpus — not an assertion that this case is good law.

Citator coverage is limited to judgments in the Wakilii corpus and source-matched treatment records. Absence of a signal is not an assertion that the case remains good law.

No adverse treatment recorded Cited 2 times with no adverse treatment recorded; not yet tested on the merits. Citations fading — 3 citing cases on record, 3 in the most recent three data years. Derived from citing cases in the Wakilii corpus — a deterministic signal, not legal advice.

AI-generated summary. This summary was generated by AI from the full text of the judgment. It may contain errors or omissions—always read the source judgment before relying on it.

Holding

Held that the PPDA Appeals Tribunal has wide powers of merits review including the power to examine grounds not raised by parties where procedural fairness is observed. Regulation 48(1) of the Local Governments (Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets) Regulations, 2006 permits only minor cosmetic customisation of Standard Bidding Documents, not extensive alterations changing the document's nature or purpose; such deviations require prior written authorisation under Regulations 5(1)(c)(ii) and 61. The Tribunal correctly found the procurement process void ab initio for unauthorised deviation. A respondent whose application succeeded in annulling the decision, albeit on grounds other than those advanced, is entitled to refund of administrative review fees. The award of costs was set aside for failure to give the appellant opportunity to be heard and absence of reasons.

Outcome

Appeal succeeded only on the issue of improper award of costs; PPDA Tribunal's substantive decision on procurement irregularities upheld

Facts

Arua District Local Government invited bids for management of Ejupala Market. The respondent's bid was the highest at UGX 2,950,000 but was rejected for failure to demonstrate financial capacity based on bank statement closing balances. The procurement entity had customised PPDA's Standard Bidding Document for Public Vehicle Parking Areas to apply to market management. The respondent sought administrative review at successive levels, ultimately reaching the PPDA Appeals Tribunal. The PPDA Authority had rejected her application but directed re-evaluation of all bids after finding proprio motu that the declared best evaluated bidder also failed to demonstrate financial capacity. The PPDA Appeals Tribunal found the entire procurement process void ab initio because the procurement entity had extensively customised the Standard Bidding Document without obtaining prior written authorisation as required by law.

Issues

  1. Whether the PPDA Appeals Tribunal erred in deciding that the net effect of PPDA Authority's decision was to uphold the complaint in part.
  2. Whether the PPDA Appeals Tribunal erred in deciding that the Authority should have ordered a refund of the complainant's administrative review fees.
  3. Whether the PPDA Appeals Tribunal erred in framing the customisation of bidding documents as a ground for review without it being raised by the parties.
  4. Whether the procurement entity's use of a bidding document that deviated from the Standard Bidding Document issued by PPDA Authority was lawful.
  5. Whether Regulation 48 of the Local Governments (Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets) Regulations, 2006 permits extensive customisation of Standard Bidding Documents.
  6. Whether the PPDA Appeals Tribunal erred in awarding costs of UGX 2,000,000 to the respondent.

Orders

  • Appeal dismissed except as regards the award of costs.
  • Award of costs of UGX 2,000,000 to the respondent by the PPDA Appeals Tribunal set aside.
  • Respondent awarded half the costs of this appeal.

Rules and key headnotes

Administrative Law — Merits Review — Nature and Scope — PPDA Appeals Tribunal — Powers to Consider Grounds Not Raised by Parties
An external administrative merits review tribunal such as the PPDA Appeals Tribunal is not limited to grounds articulated by the parties in their written submissions. It may frame the case differently and consider material that ought to have been before the primary decision-maker, provided all interested parties are given opportunity to be heard, notified in advance, and the matter is determined without bias. The Tribunal stands in the shoes of the original decision-maker and exercises all powers and discretions conferred on that person based on material that was before and that which ought to have been before that person. Failure to make an obvious inquiry about a critical fact or to take into account an obvious fact or point of law could constitute a failure to review.
Administrative Law — Merits Review — Distinction from Judicial Review
Administrative merits review differs from judicial review in that it allows examination of the evidence with a view to the reviewing agency forming its own view about the substantial merits of the case. Unlike courts conducting judicial review, which are limited to examining the process by which a decision was made, merits review tribunals may reconsider both the factual basis and the lawfulness of a decision. Such tribunals may inquire more widely than courts and may adopt a function closer to pursuing the truth rather than merely deciding on cases as presented by the parties within an adversarial system.
Administrative Law — Public Procurement — Customisation of Standard Bidding Documents — Regulation 48 — Scope and Limitations
Regulation 48(1) of the Local Governments (Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets) Regulations, 2006 limits permissible customisation of Standard Bidding Documents to minor cosmetic changes such as insertion of contact details, logos, or identification. It is not a blank cheque for overhauling the entire bidding document or changing its nature and purpose. When interpreted ejusdem generis, the provision does not licence procurement entities to effect extensive alterations. Where alterations would change the nature and character of the document or the purpose to which it is to be applied, the procurement entity must invoke Regulations 5(1)(c)(ii) and 61(1)(a) to obtain prior written authorisation from the PPDA Authority.
Administrative Law — Public Procurement — Unauthorised Deviation from Standard Bidding Documents — Effect on Procurement Process
A procurement entity that customises a Standard Bidding Document designed and issued for one purpose (management of public vehicle parking areas) and applies it to a different purpose (management and revenue collection from markets) without obtaining prior written authorisation as required by Regulations 5(1)(c)(ii) and 61(1)(a) of the Local Governments (Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets) Regulations, 2006 undertakes unauthorised deviation. Such deviation renders the entire bidding process void ab initio and a nullity.
Administrative Law — Administrative Review — Refund of Review Fees — Partial Success
An applicant who files an administrative review application based on specific grounds that are rejected, but whose application nevertheless succeeds in causing annulment of the impugned decision on grounds other than those advanced, is entitled to refund of the administrative review fee under LG (PPDA) Guideline No. 5 of 2008. From the perspective of the applicant, she succeeded in causing annulment of the decision albeit in an unintended manner. The Authority ought to have found that the application succeeded on a ground other than those advanced by the respondent rather than rejecting it as having failed.
Administrative Law — Costs Before Administrative Tribunals — Requirement of Hearing and Reasons
Before making an award of costs, an administrative tribunal must give the party to be affected by such an award a reasonable opportunity to be heard. The tribunal must also furnish reasons for the award and indicate how it assessed the costs to arrive at the specific quantum. An award of costs made without affording a hearing to the affected party and without reasons constitutes an improper exercise of discretion justifying appellate interference.
Statutory Interpretation — Ejusdem Generis Rule — Application to Public Procurement Regulations
Where a provision in a statute explicitly sets forth a series of specific terms followed by general words, the ejusdem generis rule requires that the general words be construed to embrace only objects similar in nature to those enumerated by the preceding specific words. When applied to Regulation 48(1) of the Local Governments (Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets) Regulations, 2006, which lists alterations of the character of insertion of names and addresses and addition of logos or identification, the general words that follow must be interpreted as permitting only similar minor cosmetic changes, not extensive alterations changing the nature of the document.

Legislation cited (21)

Cases cited (7)

  • Regina v Edmundson (1859) 28 LJMC 213
  • R v Cleworth (1864) 4 B & S 927
  • Gray v News Group Newspapers Ltd and Another [2011] 2 All ER 725
  • Coogan v Same [2011] 2 WLR 1401
  • Registered Trustees of Kampala Institute v Departed Asians Property Custodian Board (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 21 of 1993)
  • Mobrama Gold Corporation Ltd v Minister for Water, Energy and Minerals & Others [1995-1998] 1 EA 199
  • Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs v Pochi (1980) 31 ALR 666

Cases citing this judgment (2)

How later Ugandan judgments in the Wakilii corpus have cited this case. Treatment labels come from Sequitur — Uganda’s citator — each backed by a verbatim span from the citing judgment, and are not an assertion that this case is, or is not, good law.

Full judgment

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The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.

Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority v Peace Gloria (CIVIL APPEAL No. 0006 OF 2016) [2017] UGHCCD 11 (23 February 2017)
Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.