By Peter Ssebulime
Kampala: The state minister for Internal Affairs Obiga Kania has lamented that forensics scientists are leaving the country due to a high global demand for their skills.
Obiga revealed this while meeting legislators on Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee this morning, who had invited him as the political head overseeing the Directorate of government analytical laboratories.
Legislators noted that they are concerned about issues relating to underfunding, understaffing and high turnover at the electorate.
Obiga revealed that owing to low salaries and failure by government to enhance payment, several forensics experts have left the country for greener pastures.
He observed that the phased salary enhancement of scientists across public service has not been fully implemented.
He also learnt that the regional laboratories in Mbale, Mbarara, Moroto and Gulu are grossly understaffed and this affects laboratory analyses.
The legislators were disturbed by the revelation that two of the regional laboratories in Mbarara and Moroto are manned by only one person respectively, at the level of office attendant, while the Mbale laboratory has only two personnel.
The director of the Directorate Kepher Kuchana, upon interrogation by legislators, admitted that all they do is receive and store samples.
The chairperson of the meeting Masaka municipality legislator Mathias Mpuuga, was particularly irked by the potential contamination of exhibits owing to poor handling by office attendants.
But Kuchana assured him that samples and exhibits are handled by police scene of crime as well as Criminal Investment Department (CID) officers who have received the necessary training.
Kuchana noted that the directorate needs Shs1.2bn to fill the approved human resource structure, adding that out of the approved structure of 124 positions only 50 are filled.
He also stated that the ministry of internal affairs had in 2017 written to the public service ministry requesting for Shs8.3bn to enhance salaries so as to motivate staff at the directorate but to date only Shs572m has been provided.
Mpuuga was however concerned about the fact that procurement and installation of equipment had been done before a thorough recruitment process had been done.
He noted that before any salary enhancements are done the directorate should ensure that proper recruitment is done.
He also demanded for a recruitment plan from the directorate, after the Human Resources director of the ministry of internal affairs Proscovia Babirye told the Committee that the directorate had a three year recruitment plan to fill all positions if Shs300m is availed every year.
