The labour externalization sector is unsettled after the commissioner of labour at the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MGLSD) Lawrence Egulu on behalf of the permanent secretary issued a job order to Saliwa Recruitment Agency Uganda Limited allowing them to export labour despite the existing ban on labour export.

The letter dated 26th October 2020 to the managing director of Saliwa Recruitment Agency titled “Job Order Approval For Saliwa Recruitment Agency Uganda Limited”, leaked on social media on Wednesday morning indicating that it was responding to a submission dated 20th October 2020 requesting clearance of a job order to take 50 Ugandans to work as cleaners in the United Arab Emirates under AL AQSA FACILITIES MANAGEMENT.

“Reference is made to your submission dated 20th October 2020 on the above subject and accompanying details,” the letter reads, adding: “This request has been evaluated and found to meet the requirements of the pertinent provisions of the Employment (Recruitment of Ugandan Migrant Workers Abroad) Regulation, 2005 and Guideline 13.0 of the Guidelines on the Recruitment and Placement of Uganda Migrant Workers Abroad, 2015.”

“The purpose of this letter, therefore, is to inform you that the (50) employment opportunities offered by AL AQSA FACILITIES MANAGEMENT in the United Arab Emirates have been posted and are advertised on our website.”

“Your Company is urged to continue following the provisions of the Regulations and Guidelines throughout the recruitment and deployment process of this category of Ugandan migrant workers”.

According to Business Focus, a local online publisher, players in the labour externalization sector have questioned the ownership of this ‘special company’, claiming that it is owned by some top government officials including Labour Ministry staff.

Sources add that ever since the re-opening of the airport, the company in question has been taking Ugandans out of the country to different countries in the Middle East yet the entire industry remains closed.

The source, according to Business Focus, added that the 33 girls that were recently intercepted at the airport being sneaked out of the country to UAE belonged to Saliwa Recruitment Agency.

It should be remembered that recently before Labor recruitment agencies closed shop, there had been forces of push and pull between the licensed recruitment agencies and ministry of labour who is their regulator, with agencies accusing the ministry of deliberate continuous closure of labour externalization even after the government opened airport and borders.

Labour exporting companies say this has caused them huge losses and increased human trafficking in the country.