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Answer:
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2. 1 Additionally, please clarify whether submission of a hard copy of the proposal is mandatory, or if electronic submission alone is sufficient.
Answer:
2.1 A hard copy shall also be delivered to Embassy of Sweden; 24, Lumumba Avenue; Nakasero, Kampala, Uganda no later than the above deadline for electronical submission. The hard copy will NOT have precedence over the electronically submitted tender.
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3. Please provide a clarification on the deadline date as per Appendix L it states 7 May, however as per the rest of the tender document it states 9 May
Answer:
3.1 Please consult answer 1.1 above for answer
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4. We noted that as part of the tender submission it is required to include sections that form part of the audit procurement document e. g. Section 2.9 and Section 2.10 - Please may you advise if this means we should we submit the whole audit procurement document with these sections completed or if we should extract these sections from the audit procurement document and include them individually as part of our submission pack.
Answer:
4.1 This implies you need to check the appropriate checkbox “Yes” or “No” depending on your stand on this requirement. If “No” is chosen the tender will be disqualified. You do not need to attach the relevant draft agreement, General conditions nor the Data processing document.
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5. If the application is made as consortium and a consortium lead is selected. Please may you confirm if Appendix F needs to be completed by the consortium lead/applicant or only by the other consortium members - As this is already completed by the lead as part of Section 2.9, 2.10 and 3
Answer:
5.1 Please refer to section 3.3 in Appendix F for guidance regarding each participating companies and the need to meet qualifications for “Excluding grounds” for all participating company.
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6. Please confirm if section 4.5 of the procurement documents - i.e. Creditsafe checks relate only to the lead applicant or is this information needed also for all subcontractors and/or consortium members
Answer:
6.1 All subcontractors and/or consortium members needs to fulfil this section as well
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7. Please may you also confirm if it is possible to use an alternative to Creditsafe such as Experian
Answer:
7.1 No, Experian is not permitted. If the tenderer does not have a rating in Creditsafe's register, it shall submit an adopted annual report that discloses key ratios in which liquidity amounts to [at least 1 and an equity/assets ratio of at least 15].
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8. We noted that the qualifications and competences requirements include experience in all 4 service lines. If consultants are proposed who meet most of the requirements but not all (for all 4 service lines), however their experience is specifically related to one of the service lines (which they would work on) - Please confirm if this consultant would be considered or if this would result in the tender being disqualified
Answer:
8.1 Each proposed consultant does not need to meet all four service lines, but the three to five proposed consultants for each level (1 and 2). should collectively have experience that adequately covers all four service lines.
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9. "Please provide confirmation on whether the tenderer should provide references and methodology for Service line (3) ""to assist on an ad-hoc basis in providing less complicated audit advice that can be given by telephone or e-mail within a day"" or only for service lines 1,2 and 4"
Answer:
9.1 Yes, the tenderer should provide references and methodology for all four service lines
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10. Could you kindly confirm the maximum limit size of documents that can be submitted through email? Are we allowed to send several emails in case of a larger document?
Answer:
10.1 The maximum limit size for sending documents is depending on your mail server and not on our receiving side. Use the file format .zip if it is necessary to send the documents in a compressed form.
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11. For companies not located in Kampala, and given the deadline of May 9, 2025, is there a possibility to extend the deadline for submission, considering the requirement to also submit a hard copy to the Embassy?
Answer:
11.1 No, there is no such possibility. The deadline according to answer 2.1 above is mandatory for all tenders.
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12. Please can you clarify what is meant by “sub-division” in relation to this tender? Will one or two separate Framework Agreements will be signed with audit firms? What are the implications, how will this affect the evaluation of tenders and how many firms will be appointed to each Framework Agreement?
The following sections of the Procurement Document suggest there will be a single Framework Agreement covering all services:
1.1. “The Embassy of Sweden in Kampala has decided to procure Certified Public Accountants-CPAs (hereinafter called the Auditor) to provide Audit Services on a framework basis. The Embassy of Sweden in Kampala intends to enter contract with not more than three (3) auditing companies to assist the Embassy of Sweden in Kampala with services further detailed in the sections below.”
1.7. “Tenders shall be submitted for all parts of the procurement. The tender will be evaluated as a whole and not individually to each service area. A tender not targeting all service areas are to be disqualified.”
However, there are references to tender sub-divisions in the Procurement Document, TOR and CV template. The TOR states “the forensic services will be a separate sub-division in this framework agreement.” Furthermore at 6.3.2 and 6.3.3 of the Procurement Document, evaluation points are allocated to different criteria in relation to different services. This appears to contradict 1.7 above “The tender will be evaluated as a whole and not individually to each service area.”
Answer:
12.1 There will be ONE (1) framework agreement signed. The framework agreement will include all four (4) sub-divisions. Each received tender will be evaluated according to section 8 in the audit procurement document in its totality. There will not be separate evaluations for each sub-division other than it being part of the tender as such, the sum of accounted points for each sub-division will add to the totality so the tender needs to meet all sub-divisions in order to be ranked. In total a maximum of three (3) service providers will be part of the signed framework agreement. The service providers will be ranked 1 – 3 and the ranked No 1 will be the first for call-off regardless of what sub-division is called-off.
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13. Are all consultants required to have forensic experience? The procurement document at 5.6.1 requires Level 1 experts to have experience of taking part in four assignments in forensic services and for Level 2 experts to have worked on two forensic assignments. However, the CV template has a field for “Subdivision in tender”. If an expert is being included for the non-forensic sub-division, it would be inconsistent for forensic experience to be a mandatory r requirement.
Answer:
13.1 Please refer to answer 8.1
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14. What is the correct submission deadline on 9 May 2025? The cover page of the Procurement Document states 13:00 but 2.2.1 of the Procurement Document states 16:00.
Answer:
14.1 Please refer to answer 1.1 and 2.1
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15. What is the purpose of requesting the date of birth of proposed consultants on the CVs? Under GDPR personal data can only be collected for specific, explicit and legitimate purposes. If there is no clear purpose, is it acceptable for this information to be omitted? Alternatively, could just the year be included?
Answer:
15.1 We will need some relating information for the age and can accept just mentioning the year of birth for this purpose. As the data collector, we process the consultant’s personal data (including date of birth) only to the extent necessary to fulfil their obligation under the Framework agreement. Such obligations include identity verification, regulatory compliance, and agreement administration. This processing is carried out in accordance with the GDPR personal data principles and Sida’s data protection policies.
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16. Is it possible to remove the requirement to sign a Personal Data Processing Agreement as we believe this is not a suitable ask for the accountant’s role under this Framework Agreement? This requirement has previously been removed from a similar Framework Agreement, based on the fact that the template contract names the audit supplier as the data processor which is incorrect. Our position is that if we are appointed to this Framework Agreement, we will be the data controller in relation to work performed under the agreement.
Answer:
16.1 You will need to accept the appendix B by checking the checkbox “Yes” under section 2.10 of the Audit Procurement Document in order for the tender to remain valid. There is no need to sign the Personal Data Processing Agreement Appendix B prior to the signing of the framework agreement as such, but it shall be a requirement at that stage. If you are not willing to sign you should check “No” in the checkbox and the tender will then become invalid and not evaluated.
