Another Man Dies During UWA Recruitment Exercise

Posted by: Kyeyune Andrew Jonathan in Uganda news July 7, 2022

Yesterday, another man collapsed and died during a recruitment exercise for game rangers by the Uganda Wildlife Authority.

The exercise happening at Kaunda Grounds in Gulu City saw the man die under the same circumstances as the three before him.

Jacob Opiyo, the deceased from Kitgum District collapsed as he neared the finish line of a 5.5km roadwork. This run is a significant test to know the candidate’s ability before recruitment.

Apparently, another contestant who ran alongside Opiyo also dropped on the ground but he fortunately stayed alive. He has since been admitted to Gulu Regional Referral Hospital for treatment.

As the two approached the finish line, it clearly appeared that they were struggling to complete the run right before they dropped on the ground. The hospital pronounced Opiyo dead two hours after he got there.

“It is unfortunate that we lost him. When he reached he was weak, we had doctors who tried to help him. He was then taken to Gulu regional referral hospital but was later pronounced dead. One other person is also getting treatment. We pray for him to recover,” Mr Bashir, the UWA spokesperson said ON Wednesday.

Apparently, the UWA team emphasized on physical fitness before the race and even excluded unfit candidates before the race.

Gulu City is one of UWA’s 11 recruitment grounds across the country. It only needed to raise 48 recruits out of the Gulu camp. However, a total of 627 candidates from Acholi, Lango, and West Nile regions turned up for the exercise.

Many of the candidates were disqualified due to lack of academic papers, fake national IDs, and non-matching names in documents.

UWA is targeting to recruit 850 across the country to boost the conservation of wildlife.

However, the screening of the applicants and the training will be done by Uganda Peoples Defense (UPDF) and the successful candidates will be trained at Kaweweta UPDF training center for 6 months.

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