By Joshua Walakira
Stung by endless criticism directed at them by the public regarding their ineptness when it comes to preventing and swiftly responding to emergencies (school fires, boat disasters etc), the leadership of Uganda Police Force has finally moved to do something aimed at making Ugandans more secure. KMP Commandant Moses Kafeero (who is also a member of Police top management) says acquisition of basic skills on occupational safety and health has now become compulsory for all officers and men of UPF. Kafeero revealed this while addressing graduands at Kololo-based Exceed Institute of Occupational Safety & Health (Eiosh). Speaking as guest of honor, Kafeero said acquisition of such skills is often overlooked yet it’s very important. Kafeero made reference to the recent school fire in Rakai and the boat cruise tragedy to conclude that all this was indicative this country has very high demand for safety officers. We indeed have scarcity of such officers as a country and Agnes Ampaire’s Exceed Institute (started 2017) is the first of its kind in Uganda and East African region. “Even in police which is expected to lead all emergency responses in case of disaster we have acute scarcity of such skills. The few officers with some basic training have had to do it from abroad and not in Uganda. As UPF we are now taking advantage of EXCEED to have mass enrollment of our officers and men to acquire these skills,” Kafeero said. Commending Ampaire for being farsighted, Kafeero revealed that the MoU had already been signed for EXCEED Institute to train thousands of officers and men. The training commences January next year and the officers will be given certificate.
EXCEED/Eiosh Institute Principal Vivien Laing, the occupational health and safety expert from the UK, will lead teams to train police. To be renewed from time to time, the pioneer MoU will last two years during which the EXCEED institute teams will traverse the country conducting safety training sessions for the police. To illustrate his point that indeed there is scarcity for certified safety officers in Uganda, Kafeero referred to EXCEED pioneer students like David Tendo, Emmanuel Yengi Mark Agaba and Brian Mwanje all of whom are already gainfully employed. EXCEED Institute Academic Registrar Patrick Arebu, who has sensitized many would-be frustrated Ugandan youths about the marketability of the course, told people at the graduation ceremony that his students got jobs during their internship training with organizations where they were attached for industrial training. Kafeero said beyond institutions like police and hospitals or even academic institutions, we all need safety skills “because even at home a maid needs that awareness to avoid accidents of children getting burnt by sigiri [cooking charcoal stove].” He said many of the tragedies like school fires, people drowning at Lake Victoria or even mass accident deaths on roads will be avoided once we adequately begin to appreciate the importance of occupational health and safety. Ampaire explained that once you reflect on things like first aid in schools or existence of fire extinguishers and emergency exits on buildings, you are already deeply thinking about occupational safety. “It’s all around us be it at home, on the way, at the work place and even places of worship,” explained Ampaire who became fascinated about occupational safety while working as a young woman in the UK. She went ahead of train in it and become certified. Kafeero said he appreciated this more when he recently visited Karuma dam site with other security officials. “From arrival I saw the safety officer was very key. It was him who cleared us on where to go and not to go. He was the first person to give us the induction about the facility and said it was important we leave as safely as we came in,” Kafeero said adding it’s actually a regulatory requirement for most of the big organizations and business entities operating in Uganda. In fact in big entities like UMEME, they emphasize corporate governance so much that you can’t become a service provider (win a tender) without compliance to occupational safety being well elaborated on your bidding file. You have to demonstrate you are safety-compliant in all your systems. And Ampaire testifies to this by saying since opening the institute barely three years ago, she has been approached by many large corporations (local and international) asking for occupational safety officers for instant employment. “The truth is they want people who are properly trained and certified yet we don’t have them in Uganda. Even myself when I opened this Institute, I needed people to employ and failed to get any in Uganda. That is why I had to get people like my Principal from abroad and my hope is that with time we shall build a cadreship of safety officers so that we benefit from government policies like BuBu which stresses employing local talent,” says Ampaire renowned for her passion on matters related to safety. In fact some casually call her “Mama safety” because it’s all she preaches wherever she goes. Some of the organizations ready to employ EXCEED graduates as safety officers include UNRA and international NGOs. They have all been frequenting EXCEED for people to employ, leaving Ampaire overwhelmed and determined to boost enrollment and be able to churn out the required graduates. Kafeero said they are pondering a policy that will make it compulsory for all institutions like schools, churches and hotels to have safety officers as part of the security requirements. He said as Police, they are obliged to make use of EXCEED Institute training programs not only because it’s the only one giving such courses but also because it’s a requirement under the Buy Uganda Build Uganda (BuBu) policy which the President and MPs have been preaching ahead of the oil and gas sector’s commencement. Ampaire says the Oil & Gas sector will increase demand for safety officers which makes it essential for young people to massively enroll for the upcoming January intake at EXCEED. She also disclosed how the government of South Sudan had picked immense interest in her Institute as part of the long term strategy to increase awareness about occupational health and safety in the world’s youngest nation. Academic Registrar Arebu says his students are hands-on and have been found good enough for employment which explains why hospitals, construction and business companies where they were sent for industrial had no problem retaining them for employment. Nathan Byanyima, the board Uganda Road Fund member, said it was shameful Ampaire a private citizen was spearheading training into such a very critical area without government taking initiative. “Aids doesn’t kill people anymore but accidents as we saw recently on the boat tragedy. This is why EXCEED institute couldn’t have started at a better time,” said Byanyima encouraging parents and youths to overcome unemployment by enrolling to acquire such rare but marketable skills. The Kololo-based Institute has found favor mostly from members of the security agencies including some big men who recently transferred their children from YMCA’s catering course to enroll for the safety officers course at EXCEED. Vivienne Laing, the Institute Principal, enumerated categories that are suitable for enrollment at EXCEED including S4 & S6 leavers (vacists) and as well University graduates or even working people desiring to get additional skilling. The Institute began with 9 students in 2017 and today has over 100 students on the different course packages ranging from months to a maximum of two years depending on what one chooses. Other speakers at the graduation included Eng Andrew Naimanya (an expert on safety matters) who continues to consult for big entities in Kampala.
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