As Rwandans mark the 22nd Liberation Day, the Institution of Engineers Rwanda (IER) says that engineers are committed to be at the forefront in infrastructure development as a fruit of liberation.
By Théogène Nsengimana
As Rwandans mark the 22nd Liberation Day, the Institution of Engineers Rwanda (IER) says that engineers are committed to be at the forefront in infrastructure development as a fruit of liberation.
Eng. Dismas Nkubana, the president of the institution and chairman of the governing council says the liberation battle continues after the defeat of the genocide regime by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) in 1994.
"The country was liberated from the genocide regime but as engineers we know that liberation is not a one way flow. After liberation from genocide regime we are all striving to liberate ourselves from poverty. As engineers we are taking lead in infrastructure development, which is a fruit of the main liberation from genocide regime and a tremendous contribution towards the current liberation from poverty”, Eng. Nkubana explains.
The Institution of Engineers Rwanda (IER), started in 2008 as a learned society of engineering professionals with an aim of promoting and developing engineering services and best practice for sustainable development of the country.
This was in line with government’s commitment to promote science and technology for national development, while promoting the engineering profession leading to improved quality and efficiency of services.
IER was legally accredited in 2012 by the law No. 26/2012 of 29th June 2012 established and enacted by the Parliament.
IER vision aims at ensuring adherence to professional standards and ethics and high level of competence in the engineering field while the mission is to advance, promote and develop engineering profession by providing all the expertise necessary for the socio-economic needs of mankind.
Partnering with government institutions
To ensure quality compliance and sustainable infrastructure development, the Institution of Engineers Rwanda (IER) has signed a memorandum of understanding with both Rwanda Housing Authority (RHA), Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA) and Rwanda Standards Board (RSB).
Another partnership deal is to be soon inked with the school of engineering at the university of Rwanda (UR) to ensure that graduate engineers are equipped with needed skills to comply with engineering ethics.
Curbing illegal practices
To ensure that they comply with engineering standards and ethics while practicing their profession in Rwanda, IER registers all engineers, both nationals and foreign engineers in Rwanda to ensure that they comply with engineering ethics while executing different works.
Currently, there are over 550 registered local and international engineers in Rwanda.
Housing Inspection to ensure compliance with engineering standards and ethics’
To ensure that engineers comply with engineering ethics while executing their works, the Institution of Engineers Rwanda (IER) in collaboration with the Rwanda Housing Authority (RHA) and Rwanda Standards Board (RSB) has started a continuous housing inspection.
All the satellite cities have been inspected while the city of Kigali is set to be inspected soon to urge Rwandans to use registered engineers when they need engineering services.
Integration within the East African Community
To enable Rwandan engineers to benefit from the country’s region integration, the Institution of Engineers Rwanda (IER) has signed a mutual agreement with East Africa Association of Engineers (EAAE) to allow Rwandan engineers practice engineering profession in member countries.