Over the years, the sector has been losing very resourceful professionals that have served it diligently through mandatory retirement.
It is also recognized that there is a crop of leaders/ managers (Directors, Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners) and specialist personnel at MWE who are about to retire at the same time (which could be a similar case in other institutions or sectors) and this is bound to deplete the capacity of the sector and affect its performance that has been an envy of other sectors in Uganda and in the region. Therefore one suggested avenue to retain this capacity and expertise would be through the WRI.
The Water Resources Institute of the Ministry of Water and Environment launched the retired professional scheme in September 2022 as a way to enable the retired professional to step in and provide the younger generation of sector personnel with the required technical support, mentoring, training, and back up support to ensure that the sector capacity is retained and that the good performance of the sector is maintained.
The scheme is aiming at ensuring that the sector keeps benefiting from the knowledge and skills of retired professionals attained over many years in either academia and or in practice to enhance the capacity and performance of the sector.
In 2022,37 retired professionals signed framework contracts and many of them have been engaged to support the sector as consultants in different areas including; development of the Financing Strategy for the National Water Policy; establishment of the water and environment museum for Uganda; development of the water and environment research agenda for Uganda; development of the guidelines for WASH Master plan for Districts in Uganda; training on Business Incubation Management (BIM) level 1 at the Water Resources Institute (WRI); developing the report on the status of Water Resources in Uganda; implementation of the Water Resources Institute mentorship and internship programs; development and implementation of the monitoring and evaluation training modules for the staff of Albert Water Management Zone; Preparation of range land management plans for Omanimani and Nangolapolon sub catchments; Supported in Review/develop regulatory framework and guidelines on ground water sources in Lokere catchment and many others.
In order to enhance the support of the retired professionals within the Water and Environment sector, the Ministry through the Water Resources Institute signed framework contracts with more 46 retirees in different areas on the 5th November 2025.
This event was presided over by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Dr. Alfred Okot Okidi.
During his remarks Dr Alfred emphasized the objective of engaging retired professionals as individual consultants as to develop a pool of experts, with the requisite capacity who will support the sector among other things: i) Conducting applied training courses at the WRI; ii) Contributing to applied research conducted through the WRI; iii) Providing short term consultancy services to the sector in specific areas; iv) Mentoring young water professionals and students; v) Contributing to preparation and review of sector policy and strategy documents; vi) Contributing to developing dialogue documents on topical issues in the sector and organizing the dialogues themselves; vii) Contributing to documenting of sector knowledge and experiences in various fields; and lastly viii) General technical support to the sector as may be required by the sector.
He further emphasized that the program has enriched the sector through capacity development and other areas. This has created a need to enhance the program by recruiting another set of retired professionals.
He thank Dr. Callist Tindimugaya, Commissioner Water Resources Planning and Regulation; Ms. Gwendolyn Kyoburungi, Coordinator of the WRI; Mr. Kizito Francis Xavier Deputy Coordinator of the WRI, Mr. Mike Duncan Tumwikirize, Assistant Commissioner PDU and the entire team for the tremendous work they are doing to ensure that the program attains its objective.
Dr Callist during his remarks, he said the retired professionals are being engaged as individual consultants and that since 2022, the program has been a key pillar within the sector in a number of areas including project development, design and supervision of water supply systems, developing national strategy documents, implementing projects focused on watershed management and climate resilience, review of sector documents, dialoging, mentorship, internship, applied training, dialogues and applied research just to mention but a few.
Mr Kizito the deputy coordinator at Water Resources Institute during his presentation said the program has enriched the sector through capacity development and support in other areas; it has made it possible to handle various assignments in a timely manner and reasonable costs through framework contracts; program has provided the retired professionals a chance to meet each other and engage with other sector professionals.
The benefits of the program created a need to enhance the program by recruiting another set of retired professionals.
The event ended with the signing of the framework contracts by the 46 retired professionals in the different areas including
