Patience Rwabwogo, the daughter of President Yoweri Museveni and senior Pastor of the Covenant Nations Church, voiced her deep concern over the escalating number of young Ugandans leaving the country to find employment in the Middle East.
Preaching at the “Light Up Ankole Region for Jesus” Crusade in Mbarara, she described this trend as indicative of a “cursed nation” and called on Ugandans to seek divine intervention to reverse it.
She lamented, “It is a curse for our children to go and start working in people’s houses in Saudi Arabia. The Lord wants us to be blessed here in our land. We need to break that curse of our people going to get jobs as maids in people’s homes.”
The issue of labour externalization remains highly controversial in Uganda.
According to the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, more than 358,000 Ugandans are currently employed in the Middle East, particularly in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, and Kuwait.
These workers send back approximately $1.2 billion each year, which significantly bolsters Uganda’s economy. However, numerous reports have highlighted the human rights abuses and inadequate legal protections that these migrant workers often face.
Instances of exploitation and mistreatment by unscrupulous employers and illegal recruitment agencies are not uncommon. In response, the Ugandan government, along with other stakeholders, is striving to strengthen the regulatory framework and enhance the management of this sector.
President Yoweri Museveni has also criticized the practice of sending young Ugandans to work abroad, emphasizing that the country has considerable potential in sectors such as commercial agriculture, industry, services, and ICT.
He argues that Uganda should focus on harnessing this potential rather than exporting its youthful labour force.
In her sermon as the chief host of the crusade, Mrs. Rwabwogo rallied believers to pray for the nation to be freed from the curses of labour externalization and corruption. She remarked, “Parts of the country are clothed not in salvation but in wickedness, sin, and corruption. We need to remove the garments of inequity and corruption and clothe ourselves with salvation and righteousness.”
The crusade, themed “Redigging the wells of revival,” featured a host of preachers including Pastors Alex Mitala, Joshua Lwere, Moses Odong, John Bunjo, and Michael Kimuli, among others. Mrs. Rwabwogo’s impassioned plea for prayer and change resonated throughout the event, calling for a collective effort to restore the nation’s moral and spiritual fabric.
Additional reporting by Pulse.ug