Government must deliberately plan for its people

One evening in Kampala, I met a senior official in President Yoweri Museveni’s government. Through my contacts, the meeting had been arranged several months in advance.

My intention was to discuss how we could engage government, to deliberately pursue employment opportunities for Ugandans beyond the Middle East. I went into that meeting believing government could play a bigger role in opening doors for Ugandans in countries with genuine shortages of workers in hospitality, construction, healthcare, agriculture, elderly care and other sectors.

For years, countries such as Kenya have deliberately positioned their citizens to take advantage of international labour markets. Kenyan workers are spread across the world in legitimate jobs, returning home with skills, savings and foreign currency.

Government has played a role in creating those pathways and engaging countries where opportunities exist. The discussion highlighted the private sector’s role in connecting Ugandans to opportunities abroad, but also reinforced my conviction that government can play a more deliberate role in opening international labour markets.

Uganda has the institutions, diplomatic networks and human capital to pursue these opportunities and build a more coordinated approach that puts its people at the centre. Uganda has one of the youngest populations in the world.

However, thousands of young people enter an economy that cannot provide enough jobs. Graduates, skilled workers and those without formal qualifications are all searching for opportunities.

Many have, therefore, turned to the international labour market, not necessarily because they want to leave Uganda but because they want to work. The Middle East has become the most likely destination. There are Ugandans doing honest and important work across the region, and we should recognise their economic contribution.

They send money home, support families, pay school fees, build houses and invest in businesses. Labour migration, when properly managed, can be a valuable economic opportunity.

Without discounting the opportunities, the Middle East has opened for Ugandans, we must also acknowledge the challenges, including reports of mistreatment and exploitation, deaths that have left families seeking answers, and people losing their hard-earned money to fraudulent recruiters who promised jobs that either did not exist or differed from what was offered.

We have largely treated the Middle East as the main destination for Ugandans seeking work abroad, yet opportunities exist across Europe, North America, Asia and elsewhere in sectors ranging from healthcare and hospitality to construction and technical work. Uganda should be deliberately positioning its citizens to access these global opportunities.

This is where government must become more deliberate. Our embassies should not only represent Uganda diplomatically; they should also help identify economic and employment opportunities for Ugandans.

The ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, working with the ministry of Foreign Affairs and the private sector, can identify countries with labour shortages and negotiate legitimate pathways for Ugandan workers.

We should be preparing our people for these opportunities rather than waiting for private recruiters to find them. If Germany needs caregivers, Uganda should be training and preparing caregivers who meet the requirements.

If hotels in Europe need hospitality workers, our institutions should be preparing Ugandans for those opportunities, just as Kenya’s Utalii College has trained hospitality professionals who work across the world.

Uganda can do the same by strengthening hospitality training and connecting our young people to global opportunities. For skilled professions such as accounting and auditing, international opportunities have largely been pursued individually.

However, government can help create such opportunities through strategic partnerships. Rwanda, for example, has secured training opportunities for its accountants in the UK, benefiting from both skills development and foreign currency.

Uganda can pursue similar partnerships for its professionals and economy. This does not mean government should replace recruitment companies. There is a legitimate role for the private sector, but access to international employment should not become a business where desperate young people must pay huge amounts simply because they need someone with connections.

Government should create the framework, open the doors, regulate recruitment and protect its citizens. I often use Kenya as a benchmark because it is our neighbour, our East African Community partner and a country facing many of the same challenges.

Kenya has not solved unemployment, but it has shown greater willingness to think beyond its borders when creating opportunities for its people. Uganda can learn from that experience and develop an approach suited to our own circumstances.

Our young people are ready to work. They are willing to learn, travel and compete. What they need is a government that thinks ahead and creates legitimate pathways rather than leaving them to navigate the global labour market alone.

What came out of the meeting, at least for now, was no immediate action, and I am still following up on the progress four years later. But as a patriotic Ugandan, I believe it is my responsibility to raise issues whenever I see gaps or opportunities that can benefit our people. Whether the government chooses to take the idea forward now or a future government comes in and kicks off its implementation, the opportunity remains bigger than any individual.

The writer is a member of the People’s Reform Uganda

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