What happens when youth cannot find jobs?

On Tuesday June 17, an unprecedented event occurred in the precincts of Parliament. Two youths, Norman Tumuhimbise and Robert Mayanja were arrested in the House parking, in company of two piglets painted yellow, the colour associated with the ruling NRM party. The youth’s protest centred majorly on the increasing levels of unemployment in the country. While there was uproar within Parliament on the laxity in security, the protest stroked fresh debate on the growing pangs of unemployment in the country.
Uganda’s current population is estimated at 35 million people.

A recent report released by Action Aid Uganda titled: ‘Lost Opportunity? Gaps in Youth Policy and Programming in Uganda’ placed youth unemployment at 62 per cent. The study was carried out in 11 districts, including Wakiso, Kampala, Pader, Zombo, Kotido, Katakwi, Masindi and Mitooma, among others. Economists view the burden of unemployment in Uganda as “grave”. Fred Muhumuza, an economist and financial inclusion manager at KPMG Uganda, says the focus on the youth is not about finding them jobs to take care of themselves, because jobs are a service. “So every time youths are not employed, there is a service and input that we have lost as a country.

These youths who were supposed to contribute to the growth of this economy have not been given an opportunity to do so,” Muhumuza opines. But with a growing population, Muhumuza asserts that failure to engage youths in the inclusive growth theory while still young and productive has led to consequences. In this report, we explore some of the major consequences of youth unemployment.

EXPLOITATION
Uganda has in recent years been a hub for labour exportation. As of the December 4, 2013, the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, had licensed 31 private recruitment companies. However, in the quest to seek better paying jobs abroad, Ugandan citizens have fallen prey to unscrupulous people who instead end up pushing them into modern day slavery, including forced labour and commercial sexual exploitation.

Moses Binoga, the coordinator of the Counter Human Trafficking National Task Force, says about 200 people are trafficked to foreign countries annually for purported jobs.

The 2013 annual report on the trend of trafficking in persons in Uganda, shows that a total of 837 victims of trafficking (including suspected victims) were registered for the year 2013. Out of these, 429 were victims of transnational trafficking while 408 were trafficked internally. Of these under transnational trafficking, 220 were labour related, mostly in the form of domestic work, and sexual exploitation through forced prostitution. These complaints came from victims in Middle East and South East Countries.

Some of the countries where victims were registered most include Kuwait (98), Syria (83), DRC (72), Malaysia (43), India (35), UAE (15), Turkey (13), Kenya (11) and Qatar (10). Mr Binoga admits that though it has challenging tracking most of the victims, the government is trying to work with civil society organisations to investigate some of the cases.

“Most of the companies that have taken advantage of some of these loopholes are quack. But we have arrested several individuals involved in the trade,” Binoga reveals. In the past two years, over 50 cases have been taken to court, with the bulk still being heard. Five people, on the other hand, have been convicted of human trafficking.

GET-RICH QUICK SCHEMES
About three years ago, Uganda was awash with excitement of pyramid schemes. The scheme is an unsustainable business model that involves promising participating payment or services, primarily for enrolling other people into the scheme, rather than supplying any real investment or sale of products.

In May this year, the police arrested Ronald Muramuzi for allegedly obtaining money by false pretense. Muramuzi is said to have obtained more than Shs2b from online clients under the TelexFree and Adfast pyramid schemes.

The urge to get rich quick has not only attracted the working class, which has the money to invest, but also pulled in the unemployed youths into the bandwagon. Police spokesperson Fred Enanga says such cases are received by police, however it is sometimes difficult to track the fraudsters. “This trend reoccurs after a certain period and we have arrested people who deal in this. The problem is recovery of money is hard because the fraudsters hurriedly misappropriate the money,” Enanga says.

BRAIN DRAIN
Universities in Uganda churn out about 40,000 graduates annually, however, only 8,000 are absorbed fully into the job market. The gaps in opportunities have more often than not driven the unemployed Ugandans to seek greener pastures in foreign countries.

In 2013, statistics from the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council indicated that more than 2,000, nearly 50 per cent of the registered number of medical practitioners, had left the country in the past 10 years.

This was vindication on the part of government and the private sector on the struggle to attract, recruit and retain professionals in different professional fields. This state of affairs, according to Arthur Larok, Executive Director, Action Aid Uganda, is bound to continue, for as long government does not utilise the huge workforce.

“We see young people leave this country for better-paying jobs. This translates into professional skills being lost and what is left behind is not enough to fill the gaps. How can we lose highly skilled individuals just like that?” he questions.

To make matters worse, Fred Muhumuza, an economist, says the professional crop left behind is not well-trained to fill the void. He says the need to train professionals has been ignored, with more emphasis on recruitment only and not skills enhancement.

INCREASE IN CRIME

With unemployment comes a bevy of temptations, crime being at the top of the list. According to Arthur Larok, the executive director, Action Aid Uganda, an unemployed population is a ticking time bomb for crime. “When you have a desperate, young population, you are going to have many of them engaged in criminal activities to survive. It is also a hotbed for crime syndicates to recruit them into crime,” Larok says.

The Action Aid report indicates that more than two million youths are out of school and majority of these have no regular work or income, making them vulnerable to recruitment into illegal activities.

The execution of two Ugandans, Omar Ddamulira and Ham Andrew Ngobi in China, in China, after being convicted of drug trafficking, has been a centre of debate in the country. Some, including Eastern Youth MP, Peter Ogwang, blames the government for failing to create adequate jobs for its citizens. “You can imagine a graduate leaves Uganda to go and do kyeyo in another country. A graduate can afford to involve him or herself in drug trafficking. These are the problems that come with unemployment,” Ogwang asserts.

By June 2012, Uganda’s embassy in China had compiled a list of 23 Ugandans who had been sent on death row in China over drug trafficking while another 22 were serving life in jail over similar offences.

Police spokesperson Fred Enanga told Daily Monitor that the institution’s monthly, quarterly and annual crime report analyses in recent times has shown a rising trend in youths engaging in crime. He, however, did not give statistics on the actual percentage.

“We are seeing more youths between the ages of 18 to 27 years engaging in crime. This is a dangerous bracket because they are usually driven by passion and emotions, as well as possible idleness, which they cannot control,” Enanga said.

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