“Operation normal, we are requesting for take-off,” Charles Gituanja says after confirming all drone controls are working.
He is a drone student having a practical session at an open field in Sigona, Kiambu.
Scores of other students are having their sessions metres away with the help of flight examiners.
Two drones hover over the air as the students are tested on their knowledge of rules, regulations, airmanship and flight abilities in accordance with Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) procedures.
Gituanja, a surveyor by profession, has been sent by his company to learn the skills to help them monitor installation using drone technology.
One of the flight examiners is Tony Mwangi, founder and CEO of Drone Space, the institution training the students.
Since its inception in December 2020, Mwangi says, his company has trained more than 100 people. These include staff from government agencies and private institutions, with some students coming from Malawi, Zimbabwe and Rwanda.
One year down the line, Mwangi says the enrolment of training has been good.
The company held the first-ever graduation ceremony for drone pilots in East Africa in Nairobi in June 2021, where the first batch of 40 students graduated with a Remote Pilot Licence.
“Our first-class, we had eight students, and after the graduation of the first cohort, we continued to get more students. Many people want to get new skills and I believe we are the market leaders,” Mwangi says.
TAPPING THE POTENTIAL
Seeing potential in the drone industry, Mwangi went to train in South Africa in 2017 and got his Remote Pilot Licence (RPL) and then later went for an instructor licence.
He came back to the country and began getting some drone jobs.
“At that point, many people were flying illegally, me being one of them, because we never had any drone regulations in place. Even if you went to court, they wouldn’t know the law to charge you with,” he says.
In 2019, he a got job with an agency looking for a person with an instructor licence to help deploy drones in the health sector in Malawi.
“We would get samples from small health facilities which were not equipped with testing equipment, register them, put them in a drone and take off to the main hospital, which was 82km away, and the drone would transport the samples in approximately an hour,” he says.
If medics were to send the samples by traditional means from the small island in Lake Malawi, Mwangi says they would use a boat that comes twice a week.
“So you can imagine a boat coming twice a week and you need these results urgently so you can administer the medicine, of course that was not going to be viable,” he says.
“Within five hours, the doctors know what the problem is and the main hospital would have the results and the medicine required to be administered to the patient.
“They would put it in a drone then it would come to us, we remove the medicine and results and give it to health officers to pass it to the patients, which saves a life.”
That meant patients would be served in a day as opposed to three days, when boats would arrive.
Inspired by the magic of the drones, he came back to the country after his contract ended and founded Drone Space, which has trained the most people in the country so far.
Drones are also referred to as Unmanned Aircraft Systems.
WHAT REGULATIONS SAY
After years of debating on drone laws, Kenya finally passed the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Regulations 2020.
The agency responsible for the safety of drones is the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA).
According to the regulations, drones are classified in three categories, namely A, B and C.
Category A drones are referred to as low risk and are normally for recreational purposes or use for hobby purposes and not for commercial basis. Operators in this category need a certificate from KCAA permitting them to conduct operations.
Category B is referred to as medium risk and the operator will require a Remote Pilot Licence (RPL). For this category, you can do commercial operations.
Category C is referred to as high-risk operations and the pilot also requires an RPL. For this category, the pilot needs to have Beyond Visual Line Of Sight (BVLOS) ratings.
Commercial drone operations (B and C) require a pilot to obtain a Remote Aircraft Operators Certificate (ROC) to be issued at an initial cost of Sh80,000 and renewal of Sh50,000.
Anytime you need to fly a drone, the regulations require you to apply for an Operation Authorisation certificate with costs of Sh2,000 for Category A and Sh2,500 for Categories B an C.
The regulations further outline that you need Sh3,000 to get an importation permit for a drone and Sh3,000 to register it.
Non-compliance attracts a fine not exceeding Sh2 million, an imprisonment term of three years or both.
For somebody who wants to fly a half-kg drone on a weekend and do photography to make a few shillings from it, I don’t think you need to have four managers with aviation experience
CHALLENGES ARISING
While many praise the move to legalise drone operations, stakeholders lament the high fees and what they term complex regulations.
Craig Cleave, the CEO of Kendrone Limited, a drone training organisation, says the requirements need to be adjusted.
“The challenge is in the management structure. You need an accountable manager, safety, security and safety manager. And all of the managers have to have aviation experience,” he says.
“So you need quite a top-heavy organisation to start with before applying for the ROC. Then you need to create operations, safety, security and quality assurance manuals, which must be approved by KCAA.”
He says structures need to comply not only with drone regulations but also the civil aviation regulations, security regulations and various other manned aviation regulations, adding that the manuals and procedures “are outside what a lot of individuals would be able to do”.
“For somebody who wants to fly a half-kg drone on a weekend and do photography to make a few shillings from it, I don’t think you need to have four managers with aviation experience,” he says.
In August, when the Star visited Kendrone in Karen, four students were undergoing training for category A.
Darryl Rulka, an aircraft mechanic, was one of the students out to gain drone skills.
“I want to do some photography mainly as a hobby, and I want some aerial footage to what I do. I fish offshore and I want some nice aerial shots,” he said.
Although he won’t be making money from his activities, the regulations require he pays Sh2,000 every time he wants to operate the drone, which players say is not necessary.
Mwangi says after getting the ROC, there is no need to write again to KCAA, seeking permission to fly in a particular area.
Cleave, who also consults for companies that need drone services, says if the regulations are relaxed, Kenya could create a large number of new jobs and empower entrepreneurs to come up with new ways to use drones and generate revenue.
With about two years into the regulations, KCAA data shows only 220 people have been issued with a Remote Pilot Licence. Seven training schools and 280 drones have been registered so far.
Stakeholders say the reasons for few registration statistics is because of the fees involved and lack of public awareness by the KCAA.
Drone training charges in the country range from Sh120,000 to Sh160,000.
Stakeholders say the drone department at KCAA is understaffed, with only two staff at the headquarters.
KCAA director general Gildert Kibe admits there are challenges, saying the exact number of drones in the country is unknown, and many are under use without registration.
“As KCAA, we have come up with plans for a mass public sensitisation campaign. It has not begun yet but we have the plan,” he said.
He said the primary focus of the regulations is to guarantee safety and security of people and property.
Responding to claims of complexities, Kibe said: “That is good feedback. Now that the regulations are operational, we want people to give us their feedback on how they are being affected so that if we find we need to make amendments, that is what we will do. We can relax some of those regulations, but we need to be guided by the users. We are willing to listen.”
He said the drone industry has the potential to make a huge impact on Kenya’s economy.
“I see a great opportunity for it to create many jobs and make to make good business for many organisations,” Kibe said.
Edited by T Jalio
