Mismatch in documentation affecting prison recruitment in Kigezi

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The mismatch of academic credentials and particulars on national identity cards is affecting the ongoing recruitment of warders and wardens into Uganda Prisons Services-UPS in Kabale district. The exercise that is ongoing at Kabale municipal stadium in Kabale district has so far attracted more than 200 people aged between 18-30 years from Rukungiri and Kabale districts.

The recruitment which will run for an entire week targets recruits from Kabale, Rukiga, Kanungu and Rubanda districts. The ongoing exercise is targeting 2000 recruits across the country. The current recruitment was supposed to take place in August last year but was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, some of the applicants from Rukungiri and Kisoro districts who turned up for the exercise were turned away due to a mismatch in their academic credentials and national identity cards. The Uganda Prison Services spokesperson Frank Baine told URN on Tuesday that the recruiting officers were puzzled to find that some of the applicants had issues with their documents.

According to Baine, some of the applicants carried documents with varying dates of birth from those on their national identity cards. He revealed that at least 17 applicants from Rukungiri and three from Kisoro district were turned away on Tuesday.

He says they have advised the affected applicants to contact the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) to correct the anomalies like dates of birth and names.

One of the affected recruits from Kisoro district who declined to reveal his name told our reporter that he was not aware that the date of birth on his national identity card was not matching with the years on his academic documents. He says the prison authorities should have recruited them and correct the error after their training.

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