Prime
Let’s deal with root causes of brain drain
Departing passengers line up for check-in at Entebbe International Airport. Photo | File
What you need to know:
The issue:
Brain drain
Our view:
Ugandans especially, youths, need all the support they can get to not only start up but stay in business and gainfully so. Many challenges must be addressed such as poor working conditions, lack of proper skilling, corruption that disenfranchises many, poor infrastructure, restrictive policies and so much more that has caused us tremendous brain drain.
In response to our Friday August 23 story titled, “Nearly half of Ugandans dream of going abroad”, Finance Minister Matia Kasaija says Ugandans should consider exploring more trade and investment opportunities in the country instead of thinking of going abroad to look for jobs and that the country is working to create more employment opportunities.
According to the 2024 Afrobarometer report findings published in that story, more than four in 10 respondents (42 percent) have considered leaving Uganda. The report also found that half the people who are currently unemployed have thought about leaving Uganda, while nearly as many part-time workers (49 percent) and full time workers (45 percent) have considered emigration. The most common reasons cited for potential emigration are economic, led by finding opportunities, with 56 percent of those who have considered emigrating saying it is for economic reasons.
While the minister is right to point out that the government is working hard to solve the problem of unemployment by ensuring stability and peace and inviting investors to create opportunities for Ugandans, more has got to be done to deal with unemployment which is one of the main causes of emigration.
A number of poverty eradication programmes have been introduced by the government namely; Entandikwa, Youth Livelihood Programme, Emyooga, etc. but many youths fall by the wayside perhaps because they need more than just cash injections into their business ideas and inadequate training.
The problems and frustration that cause one to want to desperately leave their home country and many times family for a job in a foreign country with nothing but a backpack full of uncertainty and expectation for a better life must be dissected and dealt with at the root. Even with some near to horror stories from those who have sought these green pastures, many people are willing to risk it all, in fact just to leave the country in search of a better life.
Ugandans especially, youths, need all the support they can get to not only start up but stay in business and gainfully so. Many challenges must be addressed such as poor working conditions, lack of proper skilling, corruption that disenfranchises many, poor infrastructure, restrictive policies and so much more that has caused us tremendous brain drain.
So even as we tell Ugandans, to stay here and work, let’s make it tenable and not with sessions of patriotism and ideological training.
