Message from the President

As the seventeenth and current (2011 – 2012) President, I am pleased to be able to welcome you to the website of the Institution of Engineers Tanzania (IET). This institution came into being in 1975 after the disintegration of the East African Institution of Engineers established in January 1945 to bring together engineers from the then three East African Community partner states namely; Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. After the collapse of the community, IET was operationalised in 1977 with a clear mission of promoting engineering excellence in Tanzania. Ever since that time, the Institution has grown in terms of professionalism, membership and popularity worldwide. Currently the Institution has about 3,000 members and is a live member of WFEO, CEC and FEIEA. In addition, IET has collaboration links with similar professional associations including; ASCE, SAICE, EAP, EWB, AEF,UIPE, IEK.

This website mainly focuses on engineering and associated issues and the role played by IET and associated public and other private institutions in the practice and development of engineering. Considering that engineering is the discipline mainly responsible for designing and building structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes to enable safe realisation of improvements to the lines of people, many people will find the website indispensable. In order to appreciate the importance and benefits of this website to national development, it is important to distinguish the difference between engineering professional associations and government regulation of engineering practice.

In Tanzania there seems to be a general confusion between IET and the Engineers Registration Board (ERB). Although the functions of IET and ERB are complimentary, the two institutions are indeed distinguishable. ERB is a government regulatory body whose core function is to regulate the engineering practice in the country. Its mandate and functions are governed by law enacted by Parliament and its leadership is appointed by the government. The aim of this arrangement is to ensure that only qualified and competent engineers are allowed to provide engineering services to the people in order to guarantee safety and quality of the said services. In other words, it is mandatory for all engineers wishing to practice in the country to register with the government.

On the other hand, IET is a learned voluntary professional association whose core function is two fold. One, to provide and promote the competence required by the government regulator. In some other countries, one can not register with the government without being a member of a professional association. And two, is to formulate and develop service and product specifications for use in both the service and production industries. The Institution’s mandate and functions are governed by its Constitution which is written by the engineers themselves. Likewise, its leadership is elected by the engineers themselves.

Therefore, when we talk about ERB, we are referring to the government arm for enforcing law in the practice of engineering. And when we talk about IET we are referring to the profession and the engineers themselves, irrespective of whether they are members or not and also irrespective of whether they are in public or private employment. From this distinction, it is clear that engineers are supposed to join and strengthen the Institution to make their collective voice to not only be heard, but also implemented to solve the numerous problems facing our country. This is obvious because as we all know the specifications and standards used by engineers in their daily work are developed by professional associations like IEEE, ICE, IMechE, ASHRAE and many others.

Dear reader/viewer, you are now in a website of professional engineers where you can access data and information on various engineering and associated matters including the following:

• Engineering practice and Regulation in Tanzania
• Historical background, structure and organization/management of IET.
• IET’s past, current and future contribution to society.
• IET’s current and future activities and/or plans.
• Current and future national and international news on engineering works and/or projects and collaboration links.

It is the expectation of the Institution that you will not only share information with us, but also give constructive suggestions for the continuous improvement of our website.

Please read on and God Bless you.

Eng. Malima Bundara (PhD)

17th and Current President