The impact of procurement and siting procedures on handpump functionality in Uganda

Recent findings from Owor et al. (2017) indicate that a high percentage of rural handpump-boreholes (HPBs) in Uganda are in a state of failure. This research seeks to understand the high rate of failure by examining the siting and drilling/installation process in Uganda, and more specifically, aims to identify any factors within this process that may be adversely affecting the quality of the siting and drilling/installation work, and the subsequent functionality of rural Ugandan HPBs. Qualitative data from eighty semi-structured interviews highlighted a key concern within this process to be the use of turnkey contracts, paid via lump sum, no water, no pay payment terms. The following paper explores Ugandan turnkey contracts in more detail, outlining their dominance, why they are being used, their associated quality of siting and drilling/installation work concerns, and finally, the steps that need to be taken if these contracts are to be abandoned going forward.