Middle East

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Rampant unemployment is a key national security issue

By Denis Jjuuko The public service ministry recently announced that more than 40,000 people applied for 287 jobs across different government ministries, departments and agencies. More than 28,000 of those who applied qualified, meaning they were selected for aptitude tests which were to be held at the Mandela National Stadium at Namboole. It must be frustrating looking for job in Uganda. The news came after a bombshell report emanating from research by the Inspectorate of Government (IG) and the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) that indicated that Ugandans pay a whopping Shs42.34b annually to district service boards to get jobs. Averagely, the report indicated, 130,000 people pay bribes to land jobs. The people who ask for these bribes know that the jobs are scarce and people are desperate and willing to do anything to land the jobs. When somebody who bribed their way to a job gets employed, it means a few things. First, the person is not the best for the job. They just had the money to pay a recruiter. The best candidate may not have had the money and therefore wasn’t considered. Because the person knows they only got the job through bribery, they will continue bribing their way into senior positions. That is how we end up with incompetent people in positions of authority. People who can’t execute anything and making sure things don’t work or looking at everyone who is competent as a threat or what people call work politics. The people who are competent end up doing very little at work so that the incompetent boss doesn’t feel insecure and threatened. That is how we end with yes people—they won’t advise their bosses. They will do whatever the boss wants whether it makes sense or not. Remember, there are no jobs and these people have families to feed. Rocking the boat isn’t something that they want to do. Second, the people who bribed their way to jobs will only hire those who pay them a bribe. That way you end up with a corrupt layer at every level and an incompetent lot everywhere. Service delivery is impacted. Government then fails to create jobs that young people can apply for and get on merit. Third, because the public service is corrupted, the private sector suffers too. People can’t start and run businesses professionally. The people who are in positions because they paid a recruiter will endlessly try to get a return on their investment (read bribe). Procurement processes will be compromised. Payment for services and goods delivered will be frustrated unless somebody is paid. The bribery doesn’t end at public service. We recently saw many statements from politicians who lost elections for positions in their political parties claiming their rivals won through bribery. Some wondered why people were bribing for positions that were actually “voluntary.” We hear that candidates for Members of Parliament in some constituencies spend more money than they would get in the five years they would spend in the office should they win. If somebody spends more money than they would be officially paid, it means they are doing so to illegally get something. Somebody who sells their house to get money for election will do anything to get their house back. That is how we end up without jobs and seeing young energetic people leaving the country for the Middle East not to do highly technical jobs but menial ones or being trafficked for sex like we recently heard from a BBC investigation. Government has been saying that they are intending to grow the economy to US$500 billion annually. Great stuff but with rampant corruption, it will be a tall order. There is a need to nip corruption in the bud in order to create sustainable jobs for the working age population. Otherwise, we shall continue to see thousands of people filling up soccer stadiums to apply for a few jobs they know they stand no chance of getting. That is what they call desperation. And desperate people can do pretty much anything. Unemployment ends up being a key national security issue that the government must urgently address. The public have a chance to play a key role here by voting people in 2026 not because they bribed them with a t-shirts or some cheap alcohol but those who can address the challenges they face such as unemployment. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

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Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Saudi Arabia 2034 World Cup great opportunity for Ugandan workers

#OutToLunch: Saudi Arabia 2034 World Cup great opportunity for Ugandan workers By Denis Jjuuko On a recent flight to Entebbe, I met a sizeable number of travelers who were, by their conversations, Ugandans returning from some Middle Eastern countries where they are deployed as largely domestic workers. Many were returning home I think either for Christmas or their break after working for two years in the Arabian deserts. They were excited to be returning to their motherland. Before boarding in Doha where they were connecting from other parts of the Middle East, they called relatives who were to pick them once we landed at Entebbe. They spoke to each other very loudly. Their experiences, the type of bosses they had, who they wanted to see first once they are in Uganda, what they wanted to do and some who they wanted to fight etc. Unlike the flights from Entebbe to the Middle East, where female domestic workers dress in abayas that are of the same color and design, walk in line and politely as if they are about to receive the holy communion, this time they were on their own. There was no leader giving them instructions. The abayas had been replaced with skinny jeans, leggings and tank tops. Wigs or caps were now their preferred head gear. There was something about many of them. They didn’t have much regard to other passengers sharing the same boarding area spaces. I thought they were a little bit uncouth. But I was happy that they were returning home at least for their holidays and seeing their family after a few years away. Uganda, like many countries in Africa and even Asia, is a source of domestic workers for wealthy families in the Middle East. Uganda has a labour cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia. However, the labour agreement talks largely of domestic workers. Most of the domestic workers don’t have much skills and are therefore not contributing much to Saudi Arabia or learning a lot of skills they can use on their return home. I actually wondered how many of those domestic workers returning home will be able to do something else? Especially in situations where they won’t be able to return to their previously jobs in the Middle East. The majority will become poor again given the stories we hear of how relatives fleece them of the little money they make. But there is a great opportunity in Saudi Arabia that the Uganda Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development must take advantage of. Saudi Arabia, one of the biggest destinations for Ugandan domestic workers, won the rights to host the 2034 edition of the FIFA World Cup. Saudi Arabia is going to outdo itself in organizing this event. Of the 15 stadiums required to host the soccer extravaganza, only four exist. They are going to build 11 mega stadiums. They will build hotels, expand the airports, railway and road infrastructure. There is going to be a lot of construction in all the major cities. Remember, the Saudis want to outdo Qatar that hosted the last world cup. They are also on a mission to take the limelight from Dubai which has seen unprecedented growth with their focus on building massive infrastructure projects that support tourism and business. Like Qatar, they will need workers to pull off their world cup dream. Skilled workers or those that can easily be skilled. First, workers will be needed at the construction sites. Engineers, masons, surveyors, accountants, welders, project managers and the lot that works on construction sites. Secondly, they will eventually need workers to manage the infrastructure. We have already seen this in Doha. At the airport, the most common languages among workers are Luganda and Swahili. In hotels, it is the same. But because we are not very strategic, many of our workers are supervised by Indians and Filipinos. How do we get our people from lowly to middle and high-level jobs? They will need to be skilled. Some of the domestic workers could be moved to work in hotels. They can start as room service attendants and those who become good at it, will eventually become supervisors and managers. That way they will learn specific highly needed skills that can be very helpful in our tourism and hospitable industry when they eventually get tired of working abroad. Some may even invest here in small bed and breakfasts or restaurants. Engineers we send will gain experience in doing mega infrastructure projects. Welders will gain specific skills that are so needed here. Some may become partners or build businesses in Saudi Arabia just like Jews and the Dutch did in New York. However, this won’t happen on its own. We must now lobby the Saudis to take on our people beyond domestic work. I understand that there is a lot of argument against youths being shipped out to work abroad but there is absolutely nothing wrong with migration. Everyone is a migrant. If the jobs are in Saudi Arabia, let Ugandans go. The Ministry of Gender should not miss this golden chance of Saudi Arabia hosting the world cup. They should turn their domestic labour agreement into a general labour agreement to support the 2034 world cup. That way, the conversations of workers at airport lobbies will eventually be different. Happy 2025. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

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