51 rescued in human trafficking bust linked to job scam

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Police in Nagalama have rescued 51 victims of suspected human trafficking after a job scam allegedly orchestrated by a company operating under the name AIM Global Alliance.

Victims were lured with promises of employment and asked to pay sh150,000 for “training.” Later, they were coerced into recruiting friends and relatives, who were told to pay sh1.5 million to join the business.

According to police, the victims were found in overcrowded rooms in three locations across Kalagi, Mukono district.

In Kako village, 14 were found; 20 in Kalagi village; and another 14 in Bbosa village, according to Police.

A senior officer at Nagalama Police Station who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that suspects Zephaniah Kasule and Evelyn Nantima were arrested.

“We are investigating the network behind this operation. These people were being exploited under the guise of job creation,” reads a copy of the report seen by New Vision.

The victims are now under protective care, as inquiries continue into the company’s operations and possible accomplices.

Fighting trafficking

Uganda has seen an improvement in the fight against Trafficking in Persons (TIP) rating in the latest report released by the US Department of State.

This means Uganda has now seen three TIP rating upgrades over the past four years, according to Victor Boutros, the chief executive officer, of the US’ Human Trafficking Institute (HTI) based in Washington DC.

“We have now seen a 627% increase in the number of traffickers prosecuted in Uganda over the last three years. In that time, Uganda has become a global beacon for freedom, prosecuting traffickers at almost eight times the global average,” Boutros, said after tabling the July 2022 global TIP report in February this year.

Derrick Basalirwa Kigenyi, the internal affairs ministry deputy national coordinator for the prevention of TIP, tagged the upgrade to the level of investments by the government and its partners, revealing that they will achieve more convictions.

Explaining the increase in prosecution, Kigenyi, said: “The 672% increase in prosecution is based on a three-year spell and from our national TIP report of 2022, we secured a whopping total of 79 convictions by ODPP which even is a record high in the East African Community and the Horn of Africa region.”

He also linked the success to prosecution-led investigations in TIP cases.

Human trafficking is the world’s fastest-growing criminal enterprise, earning exploiters about $150b  (sh546.8b) annually.

Pope Francis has called it a plague on humanity.

Drug trafficking remains the lead crime the world over.

In July 2023, the internal affairs ministry report revealed that 2,099 victims were trafficked last year and as a result, the Police have opened up 1,200 files which are under probe.

The internal affairs ministry permanent secretary, Lt Gen. Joseph Musanyufu, while launching the human trafficking report said out of 1,200 cases reported in 2022, 599 were submitted to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for perusal and legal advice, while 348 cases were taken to court. The other cases are still under Police investigation.

Out of the 348 cases taken to court, there were convictions secured in 12 cases, one case was dismissed for lack of sufficient evidence, while 335 cases are still pending in court.