A doctor can make a mistake that may lead to a death of person, but an engineer’s single mistake might kill hundreds of people at once.

It’s in this context that engineers under the Institution of Engineers Rwanda (IER), an umbrella organisation for professional engineers, are now pushing for the enforcement of the law governing the profession.

They argue that the engineering profession is one that requires a high level of professionalism.

In a bid to assess compliance and to enforce the law, they said that all concerned institutions in the country that are linked and associated with implementation of infrastructure projects in the country have been asked to provide the list of engineers and associates working in their institutions, their service providers, as well as the list of projects that are being implemented by their service providers.

This is part of a six-month inspection that the organisation has rolled off to ensure that quark engineers in the country are weeded out.

Papias Dedeki Kazawadi, the president and chairman of the governing council of the Institution of Engineers Rwanda, said the number of engineers in Rwanda is growing, yet only a few abide by the rules that regulate the profession.

This, he said, is greatly limiting the growth of the engineering profession in Rwanda.

"We have an increasing number of professions in the engineering space. However, not so many abide by the rules and regulations that govern the profession, and this is hindering the growth of this profession,” he said, adding that they want to ensure that engineering services delivered conform to existing laws, regulations and standards.

Talking to the media over the weekend, Kazawadi said recent cases of fire outbreaks in buildings are blamed on unprofessional engineers who claim that they are electrical engineers and win people’s trust, yet in reality they did not study what they claim to have studied.

"This is one of the many issues that customers have attributed to engineers. All this is a result of not having people who work according to the ethics of the profession. We want to change the current narrative,” he noted.

The law governing engineering in Rwanda was adopted in 2012, giving powers to the institute of engineers to regulate provision of engineering services.

However, five years since the law was enacted and the Institute of Engineers set up, there are only over 500 professional engineers who are members of the institute.

"We have realised that although the law has been in place for the past five years, many people do not know it while others do not want to respect the rules. This is why we want the law to be enforced to make sure that our profession continues its role of contributing to national development,” said John Kalamagye, the institute’s registrar.

Currently, EIR is a member of East African Community Federation of Engineers and the World Federation of Engineering Organisations, an international, non-governmental organisation representing the engineering profession worldwide.

This, members say, is an advantage as they can be able to work in other East African countries and all over the world.

"But we cannot work in other parts of the world without being professional. Being part of a well-known body like the Institution of Engineers Rwanda helps us work in an organised environment and ensure that we are competent,” said Wily Taramirwa, one of the local engineers who’s part of the institution.

Taramirwa added that the organisation protects them from unfair competition or other cases that may arise during the operation.

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