Jobs that should be improved

Some people enjoy doing what they do for a living. Others carry out their duties because that is all they can find. Whether you enjoy doing what you do or not, there are jobs that could be improved to ease the lives and working conditions of the job holders. Some of the job holders need simple changes in their working conditions while others call for structural and institutional changes. One of the most challenging jobs is that of District Executive Secretaries. The job holders are recruited and fired by districts and yet they are the Accounting Officers of districts. They are literally caught between the District Executive Committees and District Advisory Committees. In many areas the two Committees are competing spheres of influence and authority and the Executive Secretaries are caught in the struggles. It is not unusual for the two committees to disagree over an issue and in the process fire the Executive Secretary for insubordination. Executive Secretaries to District who are Public employees should be recruited, managed and even transferred by the Ministry of Local Government. They should be given a parallel reporting channel to the Permanent Secretary, MINALOC. It is not uncommon for the Chairman, District Advisory Committee to make demands that are countered by the Mayor and his committee or for the Mayor to make irrational demands refusal of which lead to dismissals of District Executive Secretaries. According District Executive Secretaries an alternative reporting channel will save them from the fights between the District Advisory and Executive Committees from which they are usually victims. Basic science teaches that white surfaces reflect sunlight while black ones absorb it. It must be terribly uncomfortable for Traffic Policemen and women dressed in black khaki uniforms and a reflective nylon vest to stand under the Rwandan sun for hours. A change in uniform to white shirts made of light material, white reflective vests and white policeman’s helmet or white berets would make their lives better and possibly their work too. Guards and Sentries armed or not are an integral part of the security of banks and other institutions. For many, however, their welfare is left to their employers who may care about the pay cheques at the end of the month. These people watch as different amounts of money are banked or withdrawn and yet many of them work on empty stomachs. Many of them work without having lunch while others work for “extended shifts” meaning that they may work for “day shift, night shift, day shift and night shift again” without rest, because their employers want a “small labour force”. Many of these sentries are drowsy while on duty and easily irritable. Guard and security companies should respect the Labour Code, particularly the stipulated hours of work. Companies and individuals who hire Guards and Sentries should be interested in their welfare because no security can be provided by an exhausted, sleepy and starving Sentry/Guard. Kigali and many cities are known for their cleanliness and people who are employed as cleaners play a pivotal role. It is not uncommon to find dust swirling as these people sweep yet they are not given minimum protective gear such as rubber gloves and boots, dust masks and tools. Some have pieces of cloth padded together for dust masks which unfortunately suffocate them and not unexpected they wear them round their necks. Authorities and companies that hire cleaning services should make protection of the health of cleaners part of the selection criteria. The cleanliness of our towns and cities is important but the health of workers is even more important. Human Resources Managers and Directors are supposed to be “consultant” employees conversant with laws, decrees, regulations and the management of employees/Human Resources. They are supposed to be consulted before any decision that may affect an employee is taken. Many HR Managers, particularly in the-so-called autonomous public institutions, however, identify the need for human resources, invite applications from potential candidates, select and conduct interviews but at the end Director Generals come and decree the names of the successful candidate(s). Why do HR Managers have to be used and why do candidates go through the agonizing interviews if the DGs can hand pick successful candidates irrespective of their performance during the interview process? The fear of dismissal from work may scare some employees from complaining about their work and work conditions, therefore employers may not worry about complaints from their subordinates. But where employers can, they should better the lives of the employees because a happy employee is a productive one. Ends