Minister 'secures' 5,000 jobs for youths in Saudi Arabia

In an attempt to find opportunities for the people of Kampala, especially the youth, the Minister for Kampala Minsa Kabanda has revealed that the government is working with Saudi Arabian firm to secure up to 5000 jobs for Ugandans in the Middle East.

In a statement, Kabanda said that they have established a partnership with Ali Saleh Othman Alawayeh, the chief executive officer of Ingaz group of companies in Saudi Arabia, to boost the image of Kampala and get employment for the city youth.

“Mr. Ali would like to partner with my ministry to see how we can boost the image of Kampala, as well as look into employment opportunities, especially of our youths,"said Kabanda.

Kabanda said the investor has also accepted to invest in the areas of health, tourism and labour and arrangements are underway to see how her colleagues in the ministries of Health and Tourism can benefit from this offer.

"Mr Ali together with some of our local recruitment companies is looking at recruiting about 5,000 youths for the start, especially those from the areas of Kampala and the Metropolitan area," she said.

In the past, there was issues of Ugandans getting stuck in outside countries or being defrauded before they go but this time around, the minister assured the country that they are putting in place measures that will ensure safety of the workers.

“We have in this regard made arrangements that my colleagues in the Ministry of Labour, together with me, will visit Riyadh to do an on spot inspection of where our youths will be going. I want to look at this as an opportunity for our youths to get employment that they are sure to benefit from,”she said.