Youth unemployment is one of key challenges threatening Uganda’s future and the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party in particular.
According to available data, 83% of Ugandans aged 18- 30 remain unemployed, which has prompted them to engage in numerous illegal activities.
Government can’t combat this threat due to unlimited resources and funds.
As a result, government through Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development licensed up to 170 labour migration companies in Uganda which are tasked with sourcing labourers, facilitating them and sending them abroad to work, earn a living and in return invest their funds in Uganda and contribute greatly to the growth of the economy and the country as a whole.
Some of the leading genuine agencies into labour migration include 2Nile Public Relations Agency limited, Security Link Limited, Ham property Services and Management Ltd, Premier Recruiting Company, Maghrib Agencies Limited and Saracen U Limited among others.
It must be noted that exporting labour is one of the most delicate undertakings a company can indulge in because of the cost the business comes with.
However, many companies have tried to be professional.
A few cases have risen where some agencies engage in fraud, extortion and theft.
Other companies have been accused of abandoning workers once they board the plane or when they step foot on foreign land for work.
But as a means of solving this setback, Ministry of Gender has revoked licenses of companies which constantly fail to review their internal policies especially in streamlining systems and sorting that impediment.
Further, government has interacted with these companies which are indicted in the practices of avoiding, abandoning or ignoring issues raised by the workers taken abroad.
Ugandan workers are mostly taken to Middle East, UAE and Canada.
Generally, there has been a ray of hope of combating the unemployment by these labour migrating agencies and also earning of foreign exchange.
Interpol Ruining Business?
State House Anti-Corruption Unit led by Lt. Col. Edith Nakalema unearthed an illicit action by officers attached to Interpol who fraudulently obtain money from these agencies promising favours particularly in awarding certificate of good conduct to workers sourced by the labour firms.
Other officers of Interpol fraudulently get money promising travel documents.
Nakalema, revealed this disturbing information to Minister of State for Labour, Rukutana Mwesigwa, acting Permanent Secretary, Ebitu James, Director Labour, Martin Wandera, Commissioner Employment Services, Egulu Lawrence and officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and security agencies in a meeting held in Kampala.
Also the meeting heard that Interpol delays to give clearance to the labour companies.
“The delay takes over 6 months yet some neighbouring countries take only 2 weeks,” an affected source said.
The delay is caused by ill motives of extorting money and bribes by Interpol officials.
Owners of these companies appeal to government to reign in on Interpol or else they lose out business.
Minister of Labour Frank Tumwebaze has in the recent past promised to strengthen internal and external monitoring of Ugandan migrant workers and also strengthen community mobilization against trafficking for labour exploitation.
He added that Government signed bilateral agreements with Uganda labour export destinations, better working conditions are being established for Ugandans.
Some companies are stuck with over 2000 workers whose jobs are readily available abroad but can’t travel because Interpol hasn’t cleared them.
Interpol director AIGP Moses Balimwoyo however, defends his entity for trying hard to streamline systems particularly adapting to the automation method of registering applicants seeking certificates of good conduct.
“We managed to drop the old method of writing down. Because this was abetting forgeries and cases of forgeries were many then,” Balimwoyo said.
He adds that he has procured 8 machines with each being operated by one officer who works on 70-100 applicants.
“That means in a day we register over 700 people which is not a bad number,” he said.
But we reminded the AIGP that some labour companies have thousands of workers who need clearance.
Balimwoyo, one of the longest serving police officers admitted that his directorate has been infiltrated by very corrupt juniors whom he is trying to rid.
“I arrested some of them because they were conniving with other individuals to forge document he said,” Balimwoyo said.
-Trumpet
