Only 2000 professional engineers are registered, says Gen Katumba
The Minister of Works and Transport, Gen Katumba Wamala has expressed concern that only 2000 professional in Uganda are registered with the Uganda Engineers Registrations Board(UERB).
“It is a pity that the number of registered engineers is only 2000 in the entire country compared to the population of 45.9 million. Out there, engineers are many but a few are registered. I think we are the lowest in the region when we compared to countries like Kenya and Tanzania,” Gen Katumba said.
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The minister was on Wednesday speaking during the inauguration of the 20th board of the Uganda Engineers Registration Board at the Ministry of Works and Transport headquarters in Kampala.
The UERB is mandated to regulate and control engineering professional and their activities within Uganda and to advise government on engineering matters.
Gen Katumba said it is appalling that despite the big number of engineers in the country, only a few of these are registered.
“Everyone in this profession should be accounted for as well as their actions. With Uganda being where we are, we need to look beyond our borders. We are talking about employment but how will you get it outside our borders if you are not registered? This needs to be known to those people that they can even expand their horizon in terms of employment if they are registered.”
Gen Katumba said Uganda almost lost a World Bank funded project because of absence of registered engineers in Mukono and Mpigi districts.
“Recently the World Bank funded the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area (GKMA) Urban Development Program and it faced challenges of implementation because the districts of Mpigi and Mukono didn’t have registered engineers. The ministry had to stampede and recommend some engineers there, otherwise, the program was going to collapse in those two districts,” he said.
The minister said in some districts, some of the water engineers are the district civil engineers.
He said the new board should work on ensuring all engineers in the country register, and to this, he urged that there should be drives to entice them.
“Work closely with the Ministry of Local Government and the respective districts and get more engineers registered without compromising quality.”
Gen Katumba assured the Engineers Registration Board that government is committed to supporting them in achieving their goals, urging that it should support the Engineers Professional Bill 2024 that is soon being tabled before parliament for debate and passing.
The new board
The new eight member board includes Eng prof. Henry Arinaitwe as the chairperson, Eng. Joan Mutiibwa Kayanga, Eng. Dr.Harisson Mutikanga, Brig Eng Cyrus Besigye Bekunda , Eng Tutu Kara Tibaleka
Eng.Patricia Achola Ochang and Eng Kenneth Magembe as members whereas Eng.Ronald Namugera is the registrar.
The new board chairperson, Eng.Prof. Henry Arinaitwe applauded the minister for the trust put in them .
He said it is high time Uganda caught up with other countries in producing more engineers to support its development.
“Countries like China have developed because of their investment in engineering. We need to work together as institutions that train, provide jobs, certify, regulate to provide this environment to increase on our numbers,” Eng. Prof. Arinaitwe said.
He pledged to help increase on the number of registered engineers in the country.
