Ugandan girls sold as slaves in Oman - PS Bigirimana
Mr Pius Bigirimana
KAMPALA- Government has said they are investigating reports that Ugandan girls seeking employment as domestic workers in Oman, are being trafficked and sold as slaves.
In a telephone interview yesterday, the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development Permanent Secretary, Mr Pius Bigirimana, confirmed that they have heard stories of Ugandans being illegally trafficked and sold in Oman to work as slaves and they are investigating the matter.
“You have heard about it, I have also heard about it and we are investigating,” he said.
Mr Bigirimana’s comments follow yesterday’s press conference by the National Organisation of Trade Unions, where two girls purportedly rescued from Oman were paraded before journalists to narrate the plight of Ugandan girls who are being trafficked and sold as slaves.
According to Ms Hasifa Walugambire, whose video went viral on social media last week, she was lured by a Kenyan lady only identified as Gladys, who conned her of Shs4 million to work as a banker in Oman, but when she arrived at the airport, she was taken to an office where she was told that she had been brought to work as a domestic worker.
“I would wake up at 4am and sleep at 2am. I would sleep for only one hour sometimes without food and I got fed up. When I refused to work, I was tortured and returned to the shop where they got me,” she said, adding that the shops sell Ugandan girls as both slaves and sex workers.
Ms Adikini Teddy Takia, also a victim, said she was lured to Oman through a friend called Susan who connected her to an agent based in Mbale, eastern Uganda, promising her a job as a waitress.
She was trafficked together with two other women through Malaba and flown through Jomo Kenyatta airport after their passports were confiscated.
Upon arrival at Muscat in Oman, they were told that they were going to work as domestic workers.
“I worked in a family of seven. I was subjected to domestic work like cleaning the walls and roof of the house without pay. I got disgusted and refused to work. I was tortured and returned to the shop where I was beaten,” she said.
