An Oil rig at L. Albert in Kikube district. Nwoya coded welders have raised concerns over job discrimination by implementing companies. Photos by Arnest Tumwesige
By Arnest Tumwesige
Nwoya: Former trainees sponsored by TotalEnergies, an Oil Exploration Company, are jobless due to what some of them have described as unfair terms of employment.
Despite undergoing vigorous training, the trainees under Nwoya District Coded Welders Association say companies subcontracted by Total Energies to employ local human resources are denying them the opportunity to do tasks they can.
The association which brings together 105 members from Gulu and Nwoya districts was formed in 2020 and registered with Nwoya district in October 2021.
However, fewer than 20 out the 40 members who have reached 6G are employed in the oil sector. Others have resigned.
In welding, the positions of groove welds are classified as 1G, 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, and 6G, representing flat welding, horizontal welding, vertical welding, overhead welding, horizontal fixed welding of pipelines, and 45° inclined fixed welding of pipelines, respectively.
Raymond Okullo, the association’s speaker, is disheartened that despite Ugandans undergoing several trainings and certification by international bodies, they are recruited, and confined in workshops in favor of foreigners who are paid more.
“We don’t know why. Skills-wise, we have the same skills to do oil and gas pipeline welding. But those guys are just refusing deliberately,” Okullo said.
Okullo expressed disappointment over Petroleum Authority Uganda’s (PAU reluctance to prevail over such companies and ensure that qualified human resources in the country is recruited as provided for under the national content policy guideline.
“We had a series of meetings with PAU plus some Total representatives, but there is nothing these people are talking about that is beneficial to Ugandans. Even last time Earnest Rubondo the Executive Director I said him last time that we are indeed disappointed with PAU.”
“They are the regulators of this project and are supposed to put these companies under pressure to employ more Ugandans,” Okullo told GNNA.
Okullo noted that due to laxity in enforcement of the national content policy, Ugandans have turned into spectators as foreigners repatriate all the monies.
Putting SINOPEC on the spot
Okullo worked with SINOPEC Company contracted by Total Energies from September 2022 to September 2023. He first trained from 1G-4G as a coded welder from TASC institute based in Hoima City, leading to an award of American Welding Society International certificate.
Later he joined Sun Maker Oil and Gas Institute in Bugolobi for 5G-6G and was also awarded with an Egyptian welding center certificate.
Regardless of the acquired international certification, Okullo said he was always confined in the workshop under the guise of being retrained.
SINOPEC is laying the oil pipeline connecting Murchison Falls National Park oil deposits to Buliisa district storage facility.
Okullo claimed the majority of the employees doing the pipe laying are foreigners who are paid highly for the same work the locals are trained in.
Geoffrey Opiro a 37-year-old resident of Anaka town council is another trainee sponsored by Total Energies in 1G to 6G welding.
Opiro, the association’s chairperson said it is very hard for a Ugandan to get deployment in pipeline welding work.
Opiro is baffled that some of the foreigners arrive in Uganda without the skills the locals have, but the contracting company offers them (expatriates) a short training and within a short time, they are deployed in the field as they look on.
“What we were told during the training is not what is on the ground. Like when we were training 6G, we were told by instructors that the minimum amount we would earn was shs3m. But now, no one is getting above shs1.5m,” he noted.
Need for Gov’t to get closer
During the engagement with GNNA, the frustrated trainees asked PAU which is a regulating government agency to do close monitoring through the workers to understand the real problems instead of the contracted company’s managers.
The association’s secretary emphasized that oil and gas work is a practical skill Ugandans have been prepared to do through training and certification.
Jane Aketo, a 34-year-old from Pudyek cell, Ogom ward in Anaka town council is also another resource internationally certified in welding up to 6G level.
Aketo regretted that some of the foreigners are first trained from Kampala for a short period and qualified to begin work when brought to SINOPEC.
She also claimed that ladies are not being employed by some companies despite the skills they possess which must be checked immediately.
SINOPEC CLO reacts to claims
Felix Okello, the Community Liaison Officer (CLO) at SINOPEC who handles grievances and concerns, promised to capture the concerns voiced by the former employees.
Okello however, said they have been giving equal opportunities to employees, except that many have been failing examinations severally after training.
“Those who were successful were taken up in the system but for others who fail and fail several times, it becomes difficult to enroll them especially those doing welding,” Okello clarified.
PAU boasts human resource development
Peter Kenneth Bintu, the Enterprise Development Officer at PAU, said companies are being encouraged to treat Uganda as a permanent home.
As a result of this encouragement, Bintu said it has become more affordable to obtain internationally recognized certification by the trainees within Uganda.
Speaking at the 4th annual national content conference on oil and gas held in December 2023 at Speke Resort Munyoyo, the officer elaborated that more than 4,440 Ugandans have been trained and certified in various technical disciplines since 2017.
In his presentation contained in PAU’s bulletin, Ugandans have trained in disciplines such as welding (540), scaffolding (150), electrical and mechanical maintenance (130), plumbing (30), heavy goods vehicles drivers and instructors (493), Health, safety, and environment (1,574), and construction engineering (611).
Through this, he said it has enabled more Ugandans to attain the necessary skills to compete and participate in the Oil and Gas sector.
“As at end of September 2023, approximately 13,819 people were already employed in Uganda’s oil and gas sectors and 93% (12,813) of these employees are Ugandan citizens and 4,344 of the Ugandans are from the project host communities,” the presentation reads in parts.
Trainees hatch plans for self-employment
In the meantime, the aggrieved coded welders of Nwoya have opened a welding shop to employ themselves.
The shop is being supplemented with group farming and bricklaying with a vision to construct a permanent workplace.
When GNNA visited the bricklaying site, the team had laid 8,000 bricks and were already waiting to sell 10 bags of maize they harvested from two acres in the last season of 2023.
“We plan to start applying our knowledge to produce different products but at the same time offer training to young people who want to acquire similar skills. We have a lot of skills but underutilized,” Geoffrey Opiro, the association’s chairperson said.
The association estimates that establishing a well-equipped workshop will cost shs67m, and asked for government support.
