New Bill to deal with quack engineers

The government is set to introduce to Parliament the 2022 Engineer’s Professional Bill which seeks to uproot fake and unregistered engineers from the public to avoid shoddy work.

According to the data from the Uganda Institute of Professional Engineers, there are over 5,000 engineers in the country but only 2,000 are registered.

This comes at a time when many building projects across the country have collapsed and roads tear out very fast before their intended life span and many other projects have been stopped because of shoddy work.

“If we do not tie the grip on the quack and unregistered engineers who tend to do work at a lower price compared to a registered engineer, access to AfcTA will not be achieved and shoddy work will continue,” the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Thomas Tayebwa, said Thursday while officiating at the 26th National Technology Conference in Kampala.

He said that in order to access the AfcTA market, engineers should be innovative, and avoid the public perception that they are thieves for doing shoddy work.

Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala, the Minister of Works and Transport pledged to fast-track the Engineers Professionals Bill 2022 to help check masqueraders and also increase public confidence in the engineering profession.

“The bill is out of Cabinet and we are now getting the certificate of financial implication so that we push it to another level and I know when it gets to Parliament, it’s a done deal,” he said.

Eng Andrew Muhwezi, the President of the Uganda Institute of Professional Engineers said: “This bill is significant because it will regulate our sector which has been penetrated by engineers.”  

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