Madinah Tebajjukira
9 July 2009
Kampala — A UGANDAN woman, who had been taken to Iraq by a local Ugandan firm to work as a secretary, yesterday narrated her ordeal during her two-month stay in Iraq.
Speaking to journalists at Parliament, Rachael Malagala, 26, said she left Uganda together with 12 other women in May 2009.
She narrated that each of them was promised a monthly salary of $400 (about sh800,000).
To her disappointment, on reaching Iraq, they were told to work as housemaids at $200 (about sh400,000) per month.
A resident of Katwe II in Makindye West, Malagala was taken to Parliament by Makindye West MP Hussein Kyanjjo, to meet the deputy Speaker, Rebecca Kadaga.
Kadaga, however, was not able to meet her due to other commitments. Kyanjo recently reported to Parliament that some Ugandan women had been taken to Iraq and subjected to slavery. Malagala, now a Muslim convert, said she was tortured by her masters daily.
"The work wouldn't have been a problem, but the torture my female boss subjected me to was too much. I would wake up at 5:00am and work up to 1:00am (the next day) on an empty stomach," Malagala narrated as tears rolled down. "For all the days I spent in Iraq, I was surviving on a slice of bread given to me every after two days and a bottle of soda," she added.
Wearing a black Hijab (Muslim dress), Malagala said they were recruited by a firm called Uganda Veterans, which she said is located in Muyenga, a Kampala suburb. On arrival in Iraq, they were received by officials from a company called Sam Sam.
When contacted by telephone, an official at Uganda Veterans rubbished the claims, saying Malagala and her sister were paid money to tarnish the company's name.
"This is business rivalry. I have built my name for 35 years and I have never been involved in any wrongdoing. I have now taken a drastic decision to recall all girls in Iraq to avoid stress," the official said.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 New Vision. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
