Activating Engineering Practices in Uganda
By Eng. Tadhuba Andrew Nabikamba Bsc. Eng., BA (DDS), MUIPE, R.Eng.
In order to establish the scope of this discussion it better to start by defining what engineering
practice is.
I define engineering practice as the capacity of man to perceive an idea, develop a plan for it and then be able to implement it ethically to the benefit and improvement of life or society. This is why engineering and development are closely associated. Development is the ability of man to have the capacity to control his environment to his benefit at a sustainable level.
Who are the Engineering practitioners?
The practitioners include engineers, technicians, artisans, masons, mechanics, plumbers, carpenters etc.
The practitioners should develop a feeling that the institution (UIPE) is their umbrella to protect them and streamline the profession.
However, the position is different. It has been rather hard for people with basic qualifications to qualify for membership to UIPE.
Eng. Tadhuba Andrew Nabikamba shares his opinion on the steps the UIPE needs to undertake to meet the challenges of practising engineering in Uganda.
Challenges and opportunities
Generally, UIPE should protect the community from un-qualified practitioners. At the same time, protect the profession and the interests and rights of the practitioners as well as those of the users.
Another goal should be to develop policies that emphasise both horizontal and vertical dissemination of information within the engineering fraternity. This should involve performance and approval of UIPE in all engineering projects as a requirement to all authorities e.g. Kampala City Council and other councils.
In addition, it should synchronise programmes with the current government programmes and policies, non-government organisations (NGOs) and the community at large.
UIPE must supplement or augment government efforts to incite development.
Proposed Actions:
- Develop policies that emphasise both horizontal and vertical dissemination of information within the engineering fraternity. This is by organising workshops and professional courses for the different grades and classes of practitioners.
The Ministry of Works Training School (Kyambogo) should be transformed into a full time institute to offer short courses at a reasonable fee. The courses should aim at equipping the practitioners with the necessary tools and skills to work independently in society.
Type of courses include:
- Estimating and tendering
- Costing for welders, masons, carpenters, electricians, plumbers etc
- Programming of work for different trades types and categories
- Measurement and quantifying
- Supervision skills
- Workmanship
- Quality Assurance
- Project Management
- Bookkeeping
- Budgeting
- Ensure that all heads of technical institutions are active members of UIPE.
This will help synchronise UIPE programmes with the formal school education curriculum and other technical training programmes in the country.
The heads should be up-to-date with the current information in the industry and the deficiencies as far as applied technology is concerned.
UIPE will also assist institutions (students) in identifying areas and companies for industrial training and, if possible, jobs.
- Update the syllabus of technical institutions to match with current market demands. This should be assessed annually so that it is a continuous system of improvement is set up.
A programme like Bona-Bagagawale which is a governemtn project meaning prosperity for all is a good one but it cannot takeoff without direct intervention of UIPE. People must be equipped with skills of production. At the same time, production costs must be reduced in order to compete in the market. All these are supposed to be the responsibility of UIPE.
The above is one example where UIPE has lagged at the Initiation of Development programs. There is totally no reason why the Institution is not formally included in the government budget to participate in promotion of development programmes similar to NAADS and others.
- Issue practicing certificates for the different engineering trades and grades
The former Uganda Electricity Board (UEB) used to issue certificates/ permits to all electricians with capability to carryout electrical installation. This should be necessary for all trades like welders, plumbers etc. In short, UIPE should ensure that there is quality control.
Construction industry demands have continued to increase. The Ministry of Works has already conceded that it is not fully in control. Buildings are collapsing for lack of proper supervision and buildings are mushrooming in Kampala (and elsewhere) without adequate provision for sanitation, safety and other mandatory requirements.
This still strengthens the requirement that UIPE should be the supervisory and approval body for all construction projects to all work permit issuing authorities (KCC and councils). It should also become a law that every ongoing project has registered practicing engineer attached to it.
The above may require that the secretariat stop operating as a voluntary institution and contract qualified people and/or engineers to handle such assignments.
- Ensure safety and environment protection
Safety in workshops, welding shops, and engineering facilities must be emphasised. Laxity on this has resulted into loss of life and degradation of the environment. It very costly to train people and then fail to extract their full capacity, and potential, due to ill health or early death. Practitioners ignore safety to optimise on profits, which is unfair and unethical.
UIPE should organise at least one safety/quality control seminar/workshop for contractors and entrepreneurs quarterly. Thereafter supervision and safety audits should be conducted at all engineering installations and projects.
To avoid duplication some these exercises must be done in conjunction with NEMA who is mainly interested in protection of the environment.
Remember Sustainable development can only be so if the environment is protected.
- Establish a price structure for engineering services and revise them regularly or as and when necessary.
In most cases the providers of engineering service charge the clients basing on the level of demand. This usually leads to disagreements once either party discovers unfairness in pricing. It affects mostly individual practitioners who work for private firms and individuals. It is always a problem to reach a compromise and in most cases, both parties end up cheating each other.
Standardising the rates for the services for different categories and for different regions (i.e. compute unit rates) will also enable proper taxation and ease revenue collection.
- Develop and establish a database for all practitioners for various engineering professions for reference.
This information will help both the UIPE secretariat to monitor and the clients (in firms or companies, projects etc.) to employ the right people.
It should be done for the whole country per district.
These should be updated each year. This is why it imperative that the District engineers must be active members of UIPE.
- The result of the proposals 6 and 7 above shall also be used to protect the lower cadres (e.g. masons, carpenters, welders) in employment by ensuring that they are paid and have a fall back position for arbitration.
- Evaluate and review existing laws to ensure that professionalism is protected in engineering practice.
The law must ensure that all those who provide engineering services employ qualified personnel.
In addition, UIPE should be mandated to vet (- Just like medics, pharmacists, lawyers, architects etc.) contractors for public works and organisations to ensure that the right people (technically) are used.
This will entail carrying out a technical personnel audit of all firms doing construction and other engineering projects with private institutions, local and central government. This must be done yearly and advise government and the public accordingly.
By this move, briefcase and unqualified contractors shall be eliminated. There is a tendency for such contractors to use other peoples CVs without their consent. They then after that use incompetent people to do the work. This is very common with the district contracts.
Currently there is an association of contractors that has taken over this responsibility, which in my opinion is not correct. How can business competitors vet each other?
- Organise exhibitions, to enlighten the public, in conjunction with entrepreneurs, contractors, building material manufacturers etc.
- Develop a think tank, which shall be responsible for researching and responding on topical issues that appear in the media. As an institution, UIPE should always be at the ready to advice on policy and other topical issues, catastrophes etc -whenever a demand arises.
Remember “The valley dam” saga where people who could not define what a dam is were debating about the same in parliament. The valley dam saga emerged from a project initiated by the government to construction dams in western Uganda that eventually generated a lot of controversy.
In addition, the debate on “The effect of parallel power dams at Jinja to the water levels in Lake Victoria” is still unresolved!
- Develop a monthly report of all major ongoing projects in each district and where possible indicate the stages at which they are. This shall also be a responsibility of the District engineers.
- Initiate research and development. This will handle ideas and inventions in applied technology. In rural areas, people have developed ideas of processing their produce like sugarcane crushers, oil extractors etc... These should be identified and improved upon and this will improve on people’s income.
- Develop a social security service programme for the engineering practitioners. Most of the engineering practitioners work on contract basis. This means that they cannot subscribe to NSSF. It leaves our engineering fraternity with no option but to work up to the last unit of energy and age for survival. In short, we are an endangered species as a pay back for being with the best brains.
What This Means
Without taking action, engineering practitioners will never play their right roles and therefore will always continue being underutilised. As a result, it will take longer to achieve the required goals in development of our country. By not taking action, we as engineers, shall continue loosing more opportunities to the so-called masquerades. Government will never come to realise our potential unless we claim our natural rights and show what and how we can deliver.
We must realise that we live in a vicious circle such that any delay to take action will make ourselves and the profession face the repercussions
