By Usher Wilson Owere.
Your Excellency, everybody will appreciate that you have heavily invested in human capital Development. There is a school in each Sub Country in this Country. You have increased support for the teaching of sciences/STEM subjects.
For the first time in this country, TVET education has become free. You have also heavily invested in infrastructure projects. These public spending projects have created jobs for our people and eased the cost of doing business
. However, Your Excellency, many of the productive jobs in these infrastructure projects are being taken up by foreigners. Our proposal your Excellency is that all foreign companies undertaking public works in Uganda be obligated to have a skills transfer plan. In the long run, our people must be able to design and construct these roads without any challenge.
We have been building roads since time immemorial. Why can’t our Ugandans learn from these Chinese? Every technical person should ideally have a trainee or apprentice to ensure that there is a skills transfer process.
Your Excellency, we request you to support the roll out of the National Apprenticeship and Graduate Volunteer Scheme in the Country. This would provide opportunities for our unemployed and underemployed Ugandans to acquire the practical skills that the market needs but also facilitate work to school transition.
Mr. President, we shall never have a road that exists for 50 years that has been constructed by foreigners. They have limited love for Uganda. We must promote and protect our own if we are to build sustainable infrastructure.
Your Excellency National organization of Trade Unions (NOTU) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Uganda Association of Externalization of Recruitment Agencies which has 216 registered Recruitment Agencies as its Members. These Recruitment Agencies Export at an average of 5000 migrant workers to the Middle East every month and they are doing a commendable job.
NOTU with the help of International Labour Organization (ILO) has procured a call center with free toll line which our children can have access to us while they are away in case they need support. We are also urging Government to employ Attaches in the destination countries for purposes of monitoring the conditions and status of our young people. We shall support the efforts of the Government in facilitating safe and sustainable labour migration.
Your Excellency, I also wish to take an opportunity to draw your attention to the plight of the Labour Sector. The Sector is critical for the development and investments in the country. All the plans for employment will not be smooth unless the enforcement capacity at the Ministry and District Labour Offices is given attention. Us Social Partners have tried out best to support decent work agenda in the country, but our efforts need to be fully backed up by the enforcement wing, which mandate falls under the Directorate of Labour, Employment, and occupational safety and health. Your Excellency, I request you to take an interest and address the funding challenges of the sector to enable all the NRM program investments for employment creation to be smoothly implemented.
In conclusion, Mr. President, when you move among ten Ugandans and ask them why they lack investments they all argue that it’s because they lack capital, Mr. President, can’t we put in place the source of funds especially from social security that is pension and NSSF to ensure that a certain percentage is given to members early at the supervision of UBRA to ensure that people write proposals to start investments.
