Don't treat workers like slaves - Katikkiro Mayiga

May 02, 2014

The Katikkiro of Buganda calls on employers not to treat workers as slaves, saying it diminishes their resolve to deliver what is expected of them.

By David Lumu

KASUBI, Kampala - The Katikkiro of Buganda, Charles Peter Mayiga, has urged employers not to treat workers as slaves, saying treating workers that way diminishes their resolve to deliver what is expected of them.

“Employers should also treat workers properly.  Don’t treat workers as slaves. If you treat workers with dignity, they will also love their jobs and in turn do the work well,” Mayiga said, singling out housemaids as the most mistreated workers in Uganda today.

“Treat housemaids well. I have heard that in some families, house workers don’t eat meat. They are fed with beans and posho yet other family members are eating meat and matooke (banana).

“In most families, the house workers are not even allowed to view the television programmes.  Let me ask: if the house worker views the television programmes, will it reduce the size of the television set?” he said.

Mayiga was speaking during the ‘Etofali’ (brick) fundraising drive at Kasubi royal tombs on Thursday where Buganda loyalists converged to assess the progress of the re-building of the tombs that were set ablaze in 2010.

Julius Ssempala, the vice chairperson of the steering committee for the rebuilding of the tombs said that Mayiga decided that every 1st of the month, Buganda loyalists and well-wishers converge at Kasubi to inspect the work and also ask for the accountability of the money that the Katikkiro has been fundraising.

Rallying Ugandans to contribute more money for the reconstruction of the tombs and Bulange Plaza, Mayiga said that since the fundraising drive started in October last year, he has collected over sh3b.

Mayiga toured the tombs and commended the workers for the great work and also revealed that on May 20, he would be travelling to Dubai to continue with the fundraising.

On May 15 he will be at Makerere University for the same cause.

The fundraising drive coincided with the International Labor Day celebrations and Mayiga used the occasion to also decry the unemployment rate in the country.

“This Labor Day has come when we have a lot of things to ponder about. The first one is the unemployment levels in our country. One of the factors that contribute to this unemployment is the slow level of development. If there is development, the demand for people to employ increases at all levels,” he said.

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