Time to prioritise kyeyo as a matter of urgency

According to figures from The Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development an average of 400 Ugandan migrant workers leave the country daily to work abroad but mainly in the Middle East. In the first four months of 2022 over 30,000 Ugandan migrant workers had left the country. The majority of these are young people under 30.

Uganda has a history of these waves of young people leaving the country mainly for economic reasons. Also the promise of a better life as understood from hearsay and the media. Many of those moving, see no hope of a future in the promise of the government of the day. A good number use the pretext of bad governance as the launching pad for their move.

In the 70s at the height of President Idi Amin’s rule there was a wave of people who fled for fear of their lives but also because the economy was in free fall due to the economic embargo and isolation the country was witnessing. When Milton Obote took over in 1980, another lot fled citing the insecurity that had become a risk for life and property. Failure to find gainful employment in an environment of high inflation and instability, pushed a good number. This continued through the rule of the Military Council headed by Gen. Tito Okello Lutwa.

Come 1986 and Uganda welcomed a fresh breath of air, or so it was thought. A huge wave then ensued against the backdrop of the war in the Northern part of the country. Many quoted persecution by the government of the day against people from regions from which the past leaders (Milton Obote, Tito Okello,) originated.

The truth is that even many southerners took shelter under that pretext of ‘human rights abuses’ to find greener pastures. Those days Sweden, the UK, Germany, USA and Japan were the popular destinations. Some ventured into South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Botswana and Namibia where black people had been marginalized by Apartheid and colonialism so they were not skilled enough.

When many countries became jittery about migrants and tightened visa requirements many began gravitating towards the Middle East. What is unique about the current trend is that for the majority of the cases, it is done officially. The government is involved via licensing of labor export agencies. There were more than 230 by May 2022. Each pays Shs2 million as license fees. It also charges the over 430 foreign recruitment agencies  $30 for every job placement made. Between October 19, 2021 and May 1, 2022; a period of about six months the government collected about Shs7 billion from these companies.   It is definitely good business even for a government that initially frowned upon the people who left the country to try out their luck elsewhere, referring to them as ‘toilet cleaners’. Of course many of them gave it a bad name in foreign lands as a human right.

Then the inflows from their sweat started making headlines beating many of the traditional foreign exchange earning exports by far. According to Bank of Uganda Annual Supervision Report, remittance inflows increased from $579m during the year ended December 2020 to $599.3m in 2021. Presumably, these developments led the government to smell the coffee.

It is obvious that this country since Independence has not invested enough to employ the floods of young people that spill into the workforce every year. Or it just does not have the capacity, will and imagination to do so. (That is why insurgency has been very rampant. There are many hopeless young people who are willing to join the rebellion on the promise of a better life.) The situation has been exposed by the pressures that have come with the increasing number of youth who have been pushed out of rural areas. There are problems with land evictions, exhaustion of the land due to over use and climate change has challenged agriculture as a major employer.  The quest for education and a better life in the city means that some of the land held as the main family asset has to be sold.

Then the proliferation of the internet and communication technology topped by the smart phone means that many young people travel around the world at the click of a button. They get exposed and feel like going to enjoy the seemingly better, easy, prosperous life on the other side of the phone.    

For a country whose population structure indicates that over 66 percent of its people are aged between 15 and 29 years of age, there is a need now - with all the warts involved - to seriously think about exporting labor at least in the short run. The thought that we can assume that the young people can take advantage of the so-called ‘good government policies in place’ to find employment is an act of self deception.

Picking it from the last two years the economy is not growing fast enough to accommodate all the young people in need of jobs. The setback of Covid-19 has made matters worse in that employers who have cutback in a move to bring down costs, are now holding those who remain behind at ransom. They may have to accept lower pay and poorer working conditions to remain employed. In an environment where the government is the biggest spender in the economy and yet is cutting back on the rate it is releasing funds, there isn’t much to go around and trickle down. The crime rates indicate that many young people are resorting to law breaking especially brigandage, burglary and other forms of violent crime, to get by. Getting whatever remains of the economy up and running after the challenges of Covid-19 and the fall out of the war between Russia and Ukraine, we are facing a race against time.  2023 will be difficult in matters of law breaking if the armies of young people get frustrated due to lack of opportunities to be gainfully employed and sustain themselves. Organized crime is a possibility.

That is why as a matter of urgency we should prioritise getting them visas and opportunities beyond the Middle Eastern market. Let them go and work.

Twitter: @nsengoba