Government should re-think it’s move to create a duopoly in the printing and publishing industry

SecretsKnown has learnt that government plans to centralise all its printing and publishing works in a move to save resources. The plan in the offing will see all government printing and publishing jobs awarded to New Vision Printing and Publishing Company and the Uganda Printing and Publishing company.

In this move, government is trying to cut expenditure on printing and publishing jobs that have been highly priced by private sector players. The private sector companies have been accused of charging double the market rate when dealing with government. According to government, this was one-way government was responding to being frugal in its operations, a source that preferred anonymity revealed.

Speaking to some of the private sector players, they have advised government to rethink its strategy as it might collapse the industry. They argue that government is the biggest source of business and if they take their business away, most operators in the industry will close, which is not good for the economy. “We charge government highly because they (government) take long to pay and sometimes government officials embed their ‘cuts’ in the deal”, a source revealed.

Though well-intentioned, this plan has flaws that will defeat its purpose. For starters, New Vision Printing and Publishing Company (NVPP) Company and Uganda Printing and Publishing Company (UPPC) do not have the necessary capacity to absorb and execute all government printing jobs. When these jobs become numerous and overwhelming to the two companies, they will be forced to outsource from the private sector. The danger in this is that it will create room for private companies to bribe to get business as sub-contractors from either New Vision Printing and Publishing Company or Uganda Printing and Publishing Company. This will turn both companies into clearing houses for printing deals, and corruption in form of bribery and kickbacks will have a field day.

Secondly, government will be renegading on its mandate to distribute wealth evenly. Placing all government business on printing and publishing into only two companies is not only against the principle of free market but also bad for private sector growth because it denies private sector business.

Government, therefore, needs to rethink this plan before it goes ahead with it. There is more to lose than gain if all government printing and publishing jobs are vested into two companies that are government-owned or where government has majority shares.

In other words, government shouldn’t create a duopoly!