Engineers Registration Board
Construction Review recently interviewed Prof. Jackson A. Mwakali who is the Chairman, of the Engineers Registration Board of Uganda. Below are excerpts of the interview
Q. Give us a brief background of the Board.
A. Engineers Registration Board (ERB) was established under the Engineers Registration Act (ERA) Cap 271, as a statutory body with a mission to regulate and control engineers and their profession within Uganda.
Q. What are the Board’s mission and the objective?
A. Engineers Registration Act, Cap 271, stipulates the key function of the Board as “… controlling engineers and their activities…” (ERA Cap 271, sec 3). The Board therefore programs its activities based on selected themes around this mandate.
As an example, during the past year the Board has pursued the following objectives:
- To carry out registration of engineers as a quality assurance measure;
- To publicise the Engineers Registration Act
(ERA), the Engineers Registration Board (ERB); - To ensure awareness of the requirements for the practice of engineering in Uganda;
- To finalise the revision of the ERA;
- To pursue with greater vigilance the enforcement of the ERA; and
- To ensure operationalisation of the Joint Assessment process with Uganda Institution of Professional Engineers (UIPE).
Q. How does one qualify to be Member?
A. To be registered one should be a holder of a degree in engineering (or equivalent) from a recognized institution, followed by supervised working experience of four years, and membership of UIPE. For those seeking temporary short term registration, they have to demonstrate that they have been in relevant engineering practice prior to coming to work as engineers in Uganda.
Q. What have been your major achievements ever since the Board was rolled out?
- A. There have been several achievements
- Increased and speedy registration of engineers.
- Timely publication of the Engineers Register.
- Implementation of a vigorous awareness drive on the requirements for the practice of engineering in Uganda. This has involved visitations to major employers of engineers and construction sites; electronic and print media campaigns, organization of seminars, etc.
- Finalisation of the revision of the ERA and its subsequent transmission to other relevant organs of state.
- Pursuance with greater vigilance of the enforcement of the ERA, including inquiring into and disciplining errant practitioners.
- Introduction of a practicing stamp for all registered engineers.
- Acquisition of a Board vehicle.
- Acquisition of an office at Kyambogo in Kampala, hence bringing services nearer to the people.
- Operationalisation of the Joint Assessment process with Uganda Institution of Professional Engineers (UIPE).
Q. What are the challenges encountered since inception?
A. key challenge for the Board has been how to effectively discharge its whole mandate as provided for in the Act. The Board’s functions to-date have tended to focus on registration at the expense of other areas of its mandate like monitoring and enforcement.
The capacity level of the secretariat, with only one full time staff, is inadequate to handle the range of functions covering the entire mandate of the ERB.
The current level of revenue cannot match the desired enlarged scope of activities envisaged in the full mandate of the Board. The vast majority of engineering professionals in the civil, public, private sectors are unregistered and should be brought into the fold of the regulated professional environment.
Limited capacity is an impediment to conducting periodic monitoring surveys of the profession to establish the status of practice and levels of compliance in the engineering profession.
Pursuing cooperation with other stakeholders to ensure adherence to the laws, regulations and standards governing the construction industry and its relevant professions.
Local governments have a lot of technical functions devolved to them and yet are generally understaffed on technical personnel, the majority of whom are neither registered in accordance with the law nor have qualifications and competence matching the level of engineering responsibility entrusted to them.
The need to excite the attention of the relevant key stakeholders towards the necessary policy considerations and action towards the training of artisans and technicians which in the recent past has not attracted deserving support in terms of infrastructure, equipment, staffing and other facilities.
Q What are your future plans for improving the built environment in Uganda?
A. Proactive dialogue with engineering professionals, employers and other government departments as well as enforcement of the law!
Q. How has government supported you in the achievements registered?
A. Through budget support, provision of office accommodation to host the secretariat and provision of transport
Q. Is there any other information you feel the public should know about the Board?
A. organised environment in which everybody does their part is the prerequisite for development, peace, and harmony. ERB is there to ensure safe and sound engineering practice.
