By Mulengera Reporters
A growing number of Ugandans continue craving for opportunity to go to Middle Eastern countries to find work and lead better lives. Indeed many, who stood no chance and had given up on life, have found chance to travel to Middle East and their lives have significantly improved. Many have bought low-cost plots of the land in the Greater Kampala Metropolitan area districts of Luwero, Mpigi, Mukono, Wakiso and others.
This is how neighborhoods like Kakiri, Gayaza, Sisa, Kalagi and others have continuing transforming into fast-growing residential neighborhoods where purchase of plots (as small as 500X100) has lately been popular. Some have ventured into business beyond just building houses for their families in the Kampala surrounding districts.
Reflecting on bad cases where things haven’t gone exactly well, with many of them returning with terrible experiences, one gets the impression the situation isn’t totally rose. But imperfect as it is, the opportunity these Middle Eastern jobs have offered has led to a better situation than would have happened if no such opening ever existed. Indeed there is a silver lining on every dark cloud and these Middle Eastern jobs (risky as some Ugandans perceive them to be) have in a larger measure led to better economic prospects for the GoU, the real estate/construction industry and the families from which the beneficiary youngsters hail.
THE GOOD SIDE
Having earnestly started barely 10 years ago, the Ugandan labor export industry has enabled close to 150,000 would-be jobless Ugandans find work in Middle Eastern countries. The externalization of labor works in a way that we have 151 Gender Ministry-registered/certified external labor recruitment agencies that concentrate on connecting Ugandans to such opportunities in Middle East. It’s a business for them of course entitling the recruitment agencies to a commission which is a small fraction of the remuneration successful recruits eventually earn.
Amon Baita, a city journalist specializing on the labor externalization industry says high levels of unemployment in Uganda led some innovative men to think of labor externalization as a solution. Over the years, the recruiting agencies have learnt experiences that have made them better resulting into formation of Uganda Association of External recruitment Agencies (UAERA), an umbrella body bringing them together.
Under UAERA, the 151 recruitment agencies engage in self-regulation and, most importantly, do advocacy on areas of common interest. They are also able to carry out effective advocacy by speaking with one voice on matters like ensuring the recruits aren’t exploited upon exportation to the respective destinations where they are sent for work. UAERA advocacy is aimed at ensuring the recruits’ labor rights aren’t trampled upon and welfare-related issues.
Information disclosed in the UAERA annual reports gives insights into how Uganda has benefited from this externalization of labor to Middle Eastern countries.
Beneficiaries have been Ugandans travelling to do professional and unprofessional work including categories like technicians, security personnel, porters, drivers, cleaners, catering and hospitality personnel among others.
Slightly over 140,000 Ugandans are currently working in the Middle Eastern countries 30% of whom are involved in domestic work in rich people’s homes in Middle East. It’s alleged maltreatment among this mere 30% group that has sometimes created bad publicity making many overlook even the verifiable gains and transformation that continues to occur among the 70% of the team.
Salary earned per month depends on qualification and experience; professionals monthly earn between $1,000 and $6,000. It will all depend on skills and experience levels. The non-professional employment fetches between $225 and $1,000 per month. That is on top of free accommodation, transportation to and from work and medical insurance they each get as provided for under the relevant laws.
GOV’T CASHING IN
Beyond the individuals gaining by way of monthly remuneration and other modest benefits, the government has benefited via increased revenue collections from the services that potential recruits must seek from the state. Look at it this way. Every month, the 151 agencies export an average total of 500 recruits. Each of these spends Shs300,000 to get passport (they mostly go for express ones). Possession of a passport is one the requirements one must satisfy before being registered and enrolled by a recruitment agencies.
From express passport issuance alone, government earns an average of Shs150m per month collected from people traveling through these recruitment agencies. In a year, the total comes to slightly over Shs1.8bn paid to Immigration Office under the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Government also cashes in on another Shs80,000 each of the 500 recruits must pay to get Interpol clearance certifying that they have no criminal record making them unsuitable to travel for employment abroad.
YELLOW FEVER CARDS
This is another area where the labor externalization industry supports the economy big time. The practice is possession of the Yellow Fever card showing one is yellow fever-free is a must at Entebbe Airport. This means each of the 500 traveling for labor abroad must part with Shs150,000 to get the yellow fever vaccination and be issued with the card certifying that they aren’t carrying yellow fever virus.
It simply means, the economy annually is boosted with Shs900m as a result of the 500 recruits each paying Shs150,000 for that yellow fever exercise. There are hospitals that are certified to offer this service including Norvik, KCCA and Victoria Hospitals etc. They are mandated to issue yellow fever cards on behalf of the GoU and earn some good cash in return. In a month, the 500 recruits must part with Shs75m which isn’t bad business for the accredited hospitals.
Yet that isn’t all. As referred to in the intro, the 140,000 Ugandans gainfully employed in Middle Eastern countries have also positively impacted on sectors like real estate and construction. They are a source of additional revenue for the hardware shops as many of them struggle to build their first houses by taking up small plots in the upcoming residential neighborhoods in the districts surrounding Kampala. We are talking of neighborhoods like Nsangi, Bulenga, Gayaza, Kalagi, Kakiri, Busika and others. Some have grown to the level of putting up both residential and modest commercial premises depending on one’s monthly earnings. Consequently, in their annual report UAERA brags that Ugandans working in Middle East account for 50% of the contemporary demand/market for hardware products like iron sheets, iron bars and cement just to mention a few.
These attract some good tax revenue for government and the demand these Ugandans create indirectly leads to increased government tax revenue. These are people who wouldn’t have had any purchasing power without the Middle Eastern labor window being opened. As they build their modest houses, these Middle Eastern employed Ugandans inevitably create modest opportunities for the young engineers, technicians, plumbers, porters and truck drivers.
They are also responsible for appreciation of land values and prices in areas surrounding Kampala especially Wakiso, Mpigi and Mukono. They are the reason plots that used to go for just less than Shs10m a few years ago (in areas like Mukono, Kakiri, Gayaza, Nansana, Sonde, Bukerere and Kawuku) are now selling at Shs30m and more. It’s true even the government extension of infrastructure like roads, police services, water and electricity lines has contributed. Small townships have resulted from this combined contribution by both government and Ugandans toiling in the Middle Eastern countries.
The 151 labor export agencies have also created direct job opportunities for would-be deprived Ugandans. The UAERA annual reports indicate that they each employ an average of 10 staff to run their administrative works and related errands. This means at least 1,500 Ugandans are employed and earning something for the services they offer to the 151 companies. UAERA members also offer training opportunities at their secretariat. They also compliment work done by related service providers like medical centers, airline booking agencies and even insurance companies. They also pay taxes to both URA and Local Governments.
The WB, IMF and BoU statistics corroborate some of the observations made in this news article. Ugandans working in Middle Eastern countries are partly responsible for the growth of remittances by Ugandans working abroad from $451.6m (Shs1.7trn) in 2007 to over $1.24bn in 2018. BoU’s personal transfers’ survey of 2017 indicated that Middle East was in second position as a source of remittances to Uganda accounting for 28.6%. The others were Africa (29%) and 3rd-positioned Europe accounting for 20.7%. The BoU findings showed that the remittances from Middle East benefited 820,000 Ugandan households as each of the persons employed there ended up spending $6 off every $10 he/she earned on household expenses like education. (For comments, call, text or whatsapp us on 0703164755 or email us at mulengera2040@gmail.com).
