Kampala — A day after a Ugandan woman, allegedly sold to work under slave like conditions in Iraq by a local labour recruitment company appeared at Parliament, Saturday Monitor has learnt that at least eight more women have been rescued in a joint operation mounted by some Ugandans working as guards of American bases and the US Marines serving in the Arab country.
The women, whose details Saturday Monitor has obtained, are being cared for at an American Military base in Baghdad known as Victoria Base Camp.
The women have been identified as Ms Shamim Namutebi, Ms Fatuma Ndagire, Ms Agnes Twesigye, Ms Brenda Nakanjako, Ms Amina Nakiwauka, Ms Saudah Kizito, Ms Hamidah Namatovu, Ms Razia Muhasa and Zurah Nabukenya.
The women were recruited by Ms Grace Kanyikye, the managing director of Veterans Development Limited, based in Muyenga, a Kampala suburb. They were reportedly told they were to work as secretaries or supermarket attendants but when they arrived in Iraq, they were instead turned into domestic workers.
"The girls told us they work under very hard conditions. When they complain to the person who recruited them, they are abused and told they are lazy," a Ugandan working in Iraq told this newspaper yesterday.
Ms Kanyikye's business card indicates that among key services they offer manpower service like security guards, heavy commercial vehicle drivers, housekeepers, engineers, nurses and IT specialists as well as unskilled labour.
Ms Kanyikye yesterday dismissed the complaints saying they were motivated by business rivalry from other companies exporting labour to Iraq.
An email Saturday Monitor received from someone in Iraq mentioned the owner of rival security company Askar Security Services, Ms Kellen Kayonga, who was reportedly trying to help the women return home. But it was not clear if Kayonga is the rival Kanyikye was referring to.
"My pressure has gone up because of these things, I am now coming from hospital," Ms Kanyikye said yesterday. "I have decided to recall all the girls, so what is the problem?"
Makindye West MP Hussein Kyanjo shone the spotlight on the apparent recruitment scam after he was reportedly contacted by Ms Rachel Malagala, the woman who appeared at Parliament on Thursday. Ms Malagala said she was held in a dark room with three other women some of whom complained that their Iraqi masters sexually harassed them.
Another Ugandan in Iraq familiar with the women's story narrated their ordeal thus: "The girls told us that they work for 16 or 18 hours non-stop per day.
The one who buys a girl uses her to work for his friends and relatives at the same time. When she finishes the work at her boss's house instead of resting the boss takes her to work at his friend or his relative's home, when the girl complains he/she beats her saying ; "I bought you, you are my slave, you have to do anything I want you to do!'"
Deputy Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga, who interviewed Malagala on Thursday, has ordered the Ministry of Labour to investigate the allegations and report back to Parliament.
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This is all about our poor labour policy, the government has failed to allocate people who can work in favor of their citizens but instead allocates people who need to fill their stomach and thank the ruling party by suporting whatever is brought on table.
Avoide sending African women to work in the Middle Eastern countries. The Arabs think Africans are their slaves, and call everyone with kinky hair "Abdi" meaning slave. They will not pay the women from Africa who are lured to work for them. Instead they will sexually abuse them, overwork them, beat them, deny them food, and subject them to all sorts of physical abuse and mental abuse. African women should avoid Arab countries. They have never given up on enslaving Africans. It is despicable, but true. A woman from Ethiopia used to work for 23 hours in one of those countries. She was denied sleep, and was not even allowed to sit down when exhausted. It is a human rights issue. One woman from Mombasa was literally thrown from an upstairs window. Beware, you job seeking women. Start your own small business at home, even if it means selling vegetables for a living. It is better than slavery in the Middle East.