Another man dies during UWA recruitment exercise
Jacob Opiyo being helped by UPDF soldiers to reach the shade after collapsing during UWA recruitment exercise. PHOTOS/ MARKO TAIBOT.
What you need to know:
- UWA is targeting to recruit 850 across the country to boost the conservation of wildlife.
A 25-year-old man collapsed and died during Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) recruit exercise for game rangers at Kaunda Grounds in Gulu City on Wednesday afternoon, two days after three others died under similar circumstances in Kasese District.
Jacob Opiyo from Kitgum District collapsed while nearing the finishing line of the 5.5km road run, a significant component to test the ability of a candidate before being absorbed as a recruit.
This reporter established that another recruit also collapsed by the finishing line and has since been admitted to Gulu Regional Referral Hospital for treatment.
While approaching the finishing line, Opiyo who appeared worn-out together with his colleague, could visibly be seen struggling to finish the race before they both dropped to the ground.
Mr Bashir Hangi, the UWA spokesman who was present during the exercise, Opiyo was pronounced dead two hours after he was rushed to the hospital.
“It is unfortunate that we lost him. When he reached he was weak, we had doctors who tried to help him. He was then taken to Gulu regional referral hospital but was later pronounced dead. One other person is also getting treatment. We pray for him to recover,” Mr Bashir said ON Wednesday
According to Mr Hangi, they earlier on emphasized physical fitness to the candidates and also excluded unfit candidates before they were taken for the run.
Jacob Opiyo being helped by UPDF soldiers to reach the shade after collapsing during UWA recruitment exercise. PHOTOS/ MARKO TAIBOT.
Gulu City is one of UWA’s 11 recruitment grounds across the country.
While it needed to raise only 48 recruits from the Gulu camp, a total of 627 candidates from Acholi, Lango, and West Nile regions turned up for the exercise.
Most of the candidates were disqualified due to lack of academic papers, fake national IDs, and non-matching names in documents.
Candidates were required to turn up with S.4 certificates, a recommendation letter from local authorities, and a national ID.
“Unfortunately most of them did not have the right papers or lacked them while others were physically not fit and had health conditions that caused their disqualifications,” Mr Bashir added, two days after three people collapsed and died on Monday during a similar exercise in Kasese District.
The deceased were identified as Jozbert Muhindo, a 23-year-old resident of Kasindi village in Nyakabingo Sub County in Kasese District; Rogers Bwambale, a 24-year-old resident of Kisolholho village in Karambi Sub County in Kasese District and Alex Bwire, a resident of Kamuli District.
UWA is targeting to recruit 850 across the country to boost the conservation of wildlife.
However, the screening of the applicants and the training will be done by Uganda Peoples Defense (UPDF) and the successful candidates will be trained at Kaweweta UPDF training center for 6 months.
