The Speaker of Parliament Rt. Hon. Rebecca Kadaga has praised the managing director (MD) of Middle East Consultants, Gordon Mugyenyi for being exceptional in the export of labour.
With six in every 10 Ugandans are unemployed, Hon. Kadaga on Wednesday while sending off 102 young men said Mr. Mugenyi has done well helping Ugandans secure odd jobs in the Middle East.
Mugyenyi’s Middle East Consultants, one of the few licensed firms that work with Gender and Labour ministry to negotiate better terms for Ugandans seeking employment abroad has so far sent about 7000 youths abroad and so far secured jobs for 800, this year with a target of sending 4200 more.
Most of them are working as either cleaners, waiters/waitresses, drivers, tailors, construction and factory workers or security guards.
She said; “Am really glad to see you young men off to UAE for work,’ Kadaga said. “Initially, I was hard on these labour exporting companies because we had received reports that women are exported as domestic workers to the Arab world but end up in slavery and are abused by their alleged employees.”
“Today, the reason I’m here is because I have come to support Gordon (Mugyenyi) who is helping our youths secure life-changing employment,” she added.
“Gordon and the Uganda Association of External Recruitment Agencies (UAERA) members invited me to their event at Imperial Royale and they explained to me the conditions they are going to work in, salary and hours of work.”
The Speaker, however, vowed to crack down on the export of labour to countries where workers are abused particularly girls who are then subjected to all sorts of abuse including rape and forced prostitution.
“We have to blacklist companies that are not doing well and I want to warm such companies that we will take tough action against them,” Ms. Kadaga said.
“As government, we applaud better-organized companies like Middle East Consultants which take extra caution and document everything these people are going to do and that’s they are given a go-ahead to export labour.
The Speaker told parents of the more than 100 youth at the recruitment consultant’s offices in Muyenga after Italian Supermarket that she had asked the Minister of State for Labour, Employment and Industrial Relations to bring her a report on the progress made by the Ministry in regard to the export of labour.
