Empower Fellow Ugandans

Empower fellow Ugandans 

(Written by: Akwi Salome)

The trend these days that employers use to uplift their status is by employing expatriates; or is there another reason? What ever the reason, it all comes to one thing. I ask myself; what is it largely they do that indigenous staff can’t? Especially Kenyans, who are flooding Uganda like never before; Uganda seems a landing destination for them this millennium. This is good especially when it adds value to the company.

There are reasons why employers do this.

It gives the company an image outside. They feel prestigious as it is perceived that expatriates are expensive.
Some do it because of a bias they have on fellow Ugandans. Some employers believe that, Kenyans are better workers than the Ugandans. Those with such mentality will never look at the good side of the indigenous staff. They will always seek outside approval first. They would rather waste resources to redo a job to satisfy their ego.

Some of these employers put a lot of trust on the expatriates thus undermining their fellow Ugandan staff. This leaves a bad taste on the mouth of those affected. This is a natural feeling that anyone can feel. It is absolutely normal to feel bad about it.

Ugandans are hospitable people and they will make them feel at home. What happens when your integrity is abused? What happens when you are sidelined or you loose your job to them?

I think that, employers should prioritize the needs of their fellow countrymen first. There is scarcity of jobs and instead of employers giving work to the indigenous people rather than being in competition from outside. They should empower their fellow countrymen with income for them to grow as well. We as countrymen and women should support each other rather than despise and undermine them.

“Sometimes I see no difference between us and these so-called expatriates. We can do better work. I wonder why they should be paid all that money yet we perform the same duties,” Ben a graphics designer complained.

This brings me to the same point that expatriates are highly paid under the expense of the other staff members even if the work load is equivalent to the other.   

“We drive similar trucks, with the same load as them but I am paid less. This hurts me a lot, but I have no other job except this one,” a truck driver for a successful cement factory lamented. “We over work and have no time for our families; at least if the pay was good we wouldn’t worry so much,” he said.
It is no wonder that this factory workers strike precisely for that reason.

Sometimes these expatriates come with their manners and habits which contradict ours. They sometimes forget that they are in a different land and should behave like them. “There is one who plays metal music on high volume and he distracts us. When you tell him to reduce the volume, he shouts back at you and doesn’t reduce” Sandra complained to me. “Not only that he is rough when food is served in office, he doesn’t wait for his turn to come. His queer behavior makes us hate him not because he is and expatriate but his mannerism and the fact that he is so reluctant to adjust,” she added.

Some Bosses put so much trust in them and forget that they may access and go with valuable and sensitive files that contain confidential information of the company. Others, hide files of the projects they have worked on so that they may be called back to work on the project when they leave.

Some expatriates want to retain jobs and will fight tooth and nail to tarnish their co-workers reputation in order for them to lose face with the Boss. “A Kenyan made me lose my job; she told the Boss lies about my work and he never listened to my side of the story. He shouted at me saying I was uncooperative, unprofessional and he fired me immediately after that,” Gerald bitterly told me. “What hurts me the most is that, he never took into consideration my long stay in the company; he never even tried to investigate whether the allegations were true or not. I felt as if he wanted to get rid of me earlier and the opportunity had come knocking.” He added.

Is this what Uganda’s Liberation and Freedom is all about? If that is the case, then employers need to think harder and instead empower their fellow local countrymen first.

Way Forward

1.    A Labour Policy should be drawn by the Ministry of Labour that stipulates and emphasizes employers    including investors when recruiting workers must put priority to Ugandans first.
As a result:
•    More jobs will be created thus unemployment will reduce
•    Repatriation of money by the investors will be minimized
•    Brain drain will be curbed
2.    A minimum wage should be set by the Ministry of labour that caters for all employees of different levels.
3.    Employees to be, should learn to have self-confidence in their work and trust that they are capable.
4.    The companies that have no set rules as regards “work Ethics” should clearly state them out to the expatriates.
•    This will minimize expatriates execution of poor mannerism in the
     office and instead promote peace and harmony on the company.
5.    When expatriates perform similar duties as staff, pay the countrymen a similar salary for the work done or else she/he may lose morale and concentration and later produce poor work.