The State Minister for ICT, Aidah Nantaba has accused the Ministry of Gender, labour and Social Development for encouraging the exporting of Ugandan youth for labor in the Arab countries.
Nantaba said that the continued awarding of licenses to companies that export labour has exposed many youths to dehumanizing jobs and others have lost their lives in the process.
Nantaba made the accusation while disbursing Shs 2.5 billion to 12 different ICT innovative teams as government support in promoting local ICT talent that can be used in transforming the country.
Citing the Youth Venture Capital fund that was meant to support youth in creating employment opportunities, Nantaba said that the venture under Ministry of Gender failed to raise any successful results as the money was swindled by big officials in government.
She noted that the Ministry of Gender would use such youth programs to encourage youths to start own jobs than letting them go for risky jobs abroad.
“I have been following to understand where our youth end up when they go to the Arab world, it’s unfortunate that regardless of the profession, whether a graduate, semi illiterate or illiterate, all are subjected to the same labour market where you can only be a house maid, house keeping, shamber boys, drivers and toilet cleaners,” Nantaba lamented.
She added, “When the President could not realise any success with the venture fund, he diverted the funds to the ICT ministry and today we are here to recognise a landmark in thinking that ICT can help create jobs and stop youth from exporting their labour.”
Nantaba’s comments come a few days after reports made rounds in the media about a Ugandan man identified as Albert Mwesigye, 34, who died in Abu Dhabi recently.
The Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development has several times come under fire following persistent reports of young Ugandans working abroad being subjected to mistreatment, sexual abuse and in extreme cases some losing their lives.
Late last year, a fact finding mission by Members of Parliament who visited Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates discovered shocking statistics on how many Ugandans had died in the UAE.
A report revealed that a total of 50 Ugandans had died in UAE in the period between January and August 2017.
Details regarding the causes of the deaths indicated that 41 of these Ugandans had committed suicide as a result of difficult working conditions and failure to get their travel documents which had been confiscated.