New government needs to  focus on job creation

“Today I was informed that effective June 30, 2009, I will join the rapidly growing number of unemployed in this country… As I tucked my children into bed tonight, fighting the panic that is threatening to consume me, I realised that as a parent, I will not have the opportunity that my parents had,” the letter reads in part. 

The letter adds: “I cannot look at my children and tell them honestly that if you work hard enough and sacrifice enough, then anything is possible. I have learned today that you can make all the right choices, do all the right things, and it still might not be enough, because your government has failed you”. 
Obama says that he went on to receive hundreds of such letters from distraught citizens during his presidency. 

In the same vein, due to the escalating unemployment levels in Uganda, I am certain that if given a chance, thousands – if not millions - of Ugandans would author such letters to share similar sentiments.

According to the World Bank, while about 700,000 young people reach working age every year in Uganda, only 75,000 jobs are created each year - leaving the majority employed in the informal sector, mainly on a subsistence basis.

Worsened by the Covid-19 outbreak, the number of the unemployed continues to grow and many Ugandans are understandably frustrated.  

Majority of them are young and energetic people who have the right grades, the drive, and the will, but cannot find anything meaningful to do.  

Coupled with the absence of social security or health insurance, these youths are becoming increasingly desperate and many are furious at government for being indifferent to their needs.

It is also worth mentioning that this storm has not only affected the young - but the old as well. 

It is not uncommon these days to find 70-year-old senior citizens thronging the streets of Kampala in search of work. 

Many of them have spent down life savings intended for their retirement in order to meet their families’ needs and are now competing with their own children for jobs.

Accordingly, this should be a useful reminder to those in charge that infrastructure alone does not produce jobs. 

If you moved around major cities or towns in the country today, you will not fail to notice the rising number of arcades and malls in those areas, but many of these properties – owned by a few fabulously wealthy individuals – are largely unoccupied. 

A number of policies implemented in the past have been counter-productive and have fallen woefully short of what is needed. 

We need a system that will lead to a modern, innovative economy that can deliver jobs and serve the interests of ordinary Ugandans.

In all this, people do not expect government to solve all their problems and they know that they have to work hard in order to get ahead. But without an enabling environment and key changes in national priorities, the doors of opportunity will remain closed for many.

Mr Mukalazi is the country director of
Every Child Ministries Uganda.
[email protected]