By Andrew Irumba
Kampala: As we report this, officials working at Uganda’s Embassy in Dubai, H.E the Ambassador inclusive, are living and feeding on the Almighty’s mercy after their Ministry of Internal Affairs, which is the concerned body turned deaf ears on their requests to cries.
The labour export industry, which the embassy coordinates in Arab countries, contributes over USD 1.4 billion annually. However that money is put in the consolidated fund and nothing returns to the office to run errands, causing everything to come to a standstill.
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Basing on our underground sources both at local and international level specifically in Dubai, TheSpy Uganda has established that Dubai’s ambassador for the last couple of months has been crying to his bosses in Uganda to save him with his staff with something to eat but also save Embassy assets from being thrown out of the house over accumulated rent arrears invain.
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Sources add that as a result, the ambassador with his entire staff have since turned into beggars in UAE, surviving on meagre hand-outs from nearby friends.
Dubai is one of the world’s largest labour export market, this answers the kind of life innocent Ugandan teenagers are passing through since the Embassy that has always been their closest mother is nursing its own deep injuries.
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As a result, some workers are going hardships that even when they come to the embassy for assistance, there’s little the embassy can do because they’re as poor as a church mouse.
According to Baker Akantabira, the Chairman of the umbrella organization of Labour exporters in Uganda termed Uganda Association of External Recruitment Agencies (UAERA), who travelled to specifically Saudi Arabia on January 18, 2021, on a fact-finding mission on the actual lifestyle of the Ugandan girls, the situation is soo alarming that requires Ugandan Government to intervene to save the situation.
“When I arrived in Saudi, with my own eyes, I saw a number of workers who had been chased from houses by their Arab bosses due to various reasons, sleeping under the trees at Ugandan Embassy with nothing to eat, no medical assistance, no nothing! Others have even started becoming insane, conditions have deteriorated their mental faculties,” Baker was quoted saying by our sources in Saudi at the embassy.
Girls who are still sleeping under the embassy trees alleged that Embassy officials have no assistance they can offer since they’re also surviving by God’s grace over lack of funds.
“When we request the officials here to assist us by taking us back to Uganda, they instead list for us their problems which they say Government is not working on. They show you that they even eat meals on credit, sleep on credit, now we’re stuck,” one of the girls told our source.
“The situation here is disheartening whereby some girls have been sleeping under the tree outside the Embassy for over two weeks and their offices both in Saudi and in Uganda are not responsive,” said Baker in a letter sent to his UAERA members asking each company to improvise $300 to save distressed workers since the Embassy is in a total mess to act.
Below Is Baker’s Full Text He Sent To UAERE Members While In Saudi Which Our Spy Intercepted
“As you may already be aware. I have been in Saudi Arabia since 18th January looking into matters of our Migrant Workers.
The situation here is disheartening:
1. Rent for the shelter expired on 31st December and was not renewed now over 47 girls are at the mercy of God actually their stories can make you CRY!
2. Some girls have been sleeping under the tree outside the Embassy for over two weeks and their offices (here in Saudi and in Uganda are not responsive)
3. I have met two depressed girls our Embassy who have run mad due to sponsor abuses a d lack medical attention
4.The Ambassador’s rent expired and there is no money to renew this puts our own diplomat in total jeopardy
5. Medical bill’s accumulated and now the Embassy has no credit facility from the health facility….meaning????
6. The situation is so bad that our embassy staff have resorted to pulling their own personal resources to send critical cases to the hospital.
7. The job order processing system is down for lack of money to renew the licenses and servicing…NO JOB ORDER CAN BE PROCESSED. if we want job orders to be processed we must finance the Embassy because they used their money to look after our girls
We (together with Embassy staff) costed the immediate things to fix and we need at least US$50,000 as early as yesterday. Short of that, the Ambassador has already written to MGLSD to close this business until funds are availed to them.
NOW
A.Following our resolution at the member’s GM that each company advances ar least US$300 for fixing a few things in Saudi. I took courage and travelled here expecting that you(members) would have paid by now!!
B. I have called the ED and the Treasurer to send me whatever is available but the response I am getting is that there is no reasonable money to send me yet the situation is that BAD
C.I am appealing to all of you to send in money to the secretariat ASAP so that it is wired to me and we help fix some of these critical issues!
D. I have committed myself to the Ambassador..and I was meant to return tomorrow BUT I’m not leaving Saudi until the money is availed.
D. I request all who CARE about this business to COME OUT and TAKE ACTION
Baker Akantabira: CHAIRMAN UAERA”
