Carol Ssekandi

Carol Ssekandi serves as an Acquisition and Assistance Assistant at USAID/Uganda, supporting the agency’s mission to build sustainable development and institutional resilience through strategic procurement of technical services. In this role, she assists in the planning, solicitation, and administration of contracts and cooperative agreements aligned with health systems strengthening, governance, and ecosystem management initiatives. Her work primarily supports non-construction professional services, ensuring compliance with federal acquisition regulations and USAID’s local capacity-building objectives. She collaborates closely with program officers and technical teams to translate mission needs into compliant, transparent acquisition strategies that prioritize measurable outcomes and local engagement. While no specific contractor relationships are currently documented, Ssekandi’s procurement activities consistently engage a broad spectrum of professional service providers, including consulting firms, research organizations, and technical assistance vendors. Her workflow emphasizes competitive bidding and merit-based selection, fostering partnerships with both international and locally registered entities capable of delivering evidence-based programming. She maintains a vendor-neutral approach, prioritizing technical capability and alignment with USAID’s development goals over any single supplier relationship. Ssekandi’s contracting patterns reflect a strong preference for open competition, with 90.9% of acquisitions issued without set-aside restrictions. However, she actively supports small business participation, with 9.1% of awards designated as Total Small Business Set-Asides under FAR 19.5. This demonstrates a balanced commitment to maximizing competition while ensuring opportunities for qualified small businesses to contribute to Uganda’s development outcomes. Her primary procurement focus lies in NAICS 541990 (All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services), encompassing monitoring and evaluation, technical advisory services, and capacity-building support. She also procures related services under NAICS 541611 (Management Consulting) and 423490 (Professional Equipment Wholesalers), reflecting a multidisciplinary approach to supporting USAID’s health, governance, and environmental programs through specialized, high-impact service delivery.