Uganda’s migrant workers have been exempted from presenting a Certificate of good conduct from Interpol as a pre-condition of travel to the foreign countries.
The new development is in a letter issued by the Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Betty Among Ongom addressed to the Minister of Internal Affairs, Gen. Kahinda Otaffire on October 8th, 2021.
Among noted that this follows a decision by Cabinet in a meeting that was held at Entebbe on September 27, 2021.
“Decision number six (6) of the cabinet meeting reads….’Noted the reiteration by H.E the President that the only category of persons who would require an Interpol Certificate should be persons venturing into security professions’,” Among said.
Among informed the Internal Affairs Minister that as such, beginning Wednesday, 13th October, 2021, all categories of migrant workers will not be required to present Interpol Certificate as a pre-condition for travel except those traveling for security related jobs as guided by President Museveni and Cabinet.
“The purpose of this letter is to request you to cause further instructions to the specific relevant officers who are required to operationalize this Cabinet Directive. By copy of this letter, all relevant officials at the Airport, boarder point and Interpol are notified of the directive,” Among noted.
A letter from Interpol has been a requirement for all individuals who get employment outside Uganda, especially in any of the Middle East countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Afghanistan and United Arab Emirates or Somalia.
This requirement does not apply to employment in other countries such as UK and USA, among others.
According to recruitment experts, the regulations in place were necessitated by the need to safeguard Ugandans following social media outcries of torture and mistreatment while on duty in some countries and subsequent failure to track the culprits.
The system in place now ensures that there is an accountability data bank of the whereabouts of Ugandans with appropriate information about their employers. It also ensures that the country exports labourers with a clean record that projects a good national image.