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President Yoweri Museveni’s daughter Patience Rwabwogo has expressed dismay at the ever-rising number of young Ugandans leaving their country to seek employment in the Middle East.
The First Daughter described as “a sign of a cursed nation,” the burgeoning labour externalization market in Uganda, calling for Ugandans to pray for divine intervention.
“It is a curse for our children to go and start working in people’s houses in Saudi Arabia,” she said.
"The Lord wants us to be blessed here in our land. We need to break that curse of our people going to get jobs as maids in people’s homes.”
Mrs Rwabwogo, the senior Pastor of the Covenant Nations Church in Luzira was yesterday preaching at the “Light Up Ankole Region for Jesus” Crusade held at Mbarara’s Booma Grounds.
A contentious topic
The rising rate of labour externalization, mostly to the Middle East remains a contentious topic in the country. The government through the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development estimates that over 358,000 Ugandans are currently employed in the Middle East, particularly in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, and Kuwait.
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These workers remit approximately $1.2 billion annually, contributing significantly to Uganda's economy, although there have been multiple reports of human rights abuses and inadequate legal protections for migrant workers.
There have been instances of exploitation and mistreatment by unscrupulous employers and illegal recruitment agencies. To address these issues, the Ugandan government and stakeholders are working towards strengthening the regulatory framework and ensuring better management of the sector.
President Yoweri Museveni in a recent speech said it is wrong for Uganda to be shipping out its youthful labour to foreign lands, despite the country’s potential in numerous sectors including commercial agriculture, industry, services and ICT.
Mrs Rwabwogo in her sermon as the chief host of the crusade, rallied believers to pray for their country to be ridden of such curses as labour externalization and corruption.
“Parts of the country are clothed not in salvation but in wickedness, sin and corruption,” she said.
“We need to remove the garments of inequity and corruption and clothe ourselves with salvation and righteousness.”
The crusade, held under the theme; “Redigging the wells of revival” had a long list of preachers including Pastors Alex Mitala, Joshua Lwere, Moses Odong, John Bunjo, Michael Kimuli, among others.