A day in the life of a Ugandan guard in iraq
THERE are four companies that are involved in active exportation of labour to Iraq; Watertight, Askar, Dreshak and Gideon’s Men/Connect Finance. They have taken over 12,000 Ugandans to Iraq since 2005. John Kifefe (not real name) is one of the recruits that have spent at least two years in the Ira
THERE are four companies that are involved in active exportation of labour to Iraq; Watertight, Askar, Dreshak and Gideon’s Men/Connect Finance. They have taken over 12,000 Ugandans to Iraq since 2005. John Kifefe (not real name) is one of the recruits that have spent at least two years in the Iraqi capital – Baghdad. He told Chris Kiwawulo the story of the life of a Ugandan guard in the war-torn country.
I was taken to Iraq as a guard in 2006. At first I was handling a machine gun, but after some time, I acquired more training and I became a dog handler.
My normal day starts at 4:45am because I have to be at work before 5:30am. I have my breakfast at 5:00am. Breakfast is normally African tea and all types of accompaniments like bread, cakes, eggs, chapatti are available.
I then proceed to work in my car. I work under the K9 unit, a dog handling section of the coalition forces in Iraq. Others are Life Support and Guard units. The dogs we handle (German shepherds) are used to carry out foot patrols and detect explosives.
They are so sensitive that even when a car passes near a place where a bomb has gone off or when a car has been used to carry explosives, they will detect it. On several occasions we have stopped cars from entering our base under such circumstances. These dogs are also used to detect explosives in buildings. It can take two dogs about two to three hours to search a building with 100 rooms.
Our normal working time is between 10 to 12 hours every day and six hours on weekends. Unlike in Uganda, weekends in Iraq are observed on Fridays and Saturdays. The rest are normal working days.
There is not too much work but it is better you have something to do rather than being idle because you can get bored stiff. We handle tough and professional dogs. They cost between $8000 (about sh13m) and $15,000 (about sh24m) depending on their experience. While moving with the dog in public, you have to alert the people by shouting that ‘dog passing through’. If you don’t and it bites someone, you face it rough with the law.
But if you warn them and they hesitate to give way, then you have no case if it bites anyone. The good thing is that they are vaccinated against rabies. But still if a dog bites someone, investigations will have to be done to ascertain if you really sounded the warning. You have to hold it by the lead at close range so that it does not attack people. My dog has bitten me several times though in a playful manner. When not at work, the dog is kept in a private room so that it does not get used to people, lest wrong persons befriend it.
Our base is about 15 acres big and machine-gun wielding coalition soldiers monitor it 24 hours every day. The only boring thing is that you can keep guard of your assigned area and no enemy attacks, but you have to stay stuck on your gun. There are other bases that are as big as 45 square miles. All coalition bases have anti-missile installations that divert them once directed to a particular camp, and this has happened many times. The unfortunate thing is that at times the diverted missiles end up hitting people’s homes. We have our lunch at work and when we retire, we have supper at the dining facility in our base. This is where we sleep. There are also halls of entertainment with huge screens and gyms where we go after work to relax. The entertainment places can house over 100 people at ago.
Within the camp, we have dry cleaners and cooks as well. All these services are rendered to us at no cost. The people are paid by the coalition funds. We only pay for airtime in case we want to call back home. It costs about sh300 per minute when calling someone in Uganda from Iraq. One dollar (sh1600) can take you for over five minutes.
There are also free call and internet centres provided to us, only that they are most of the time congested. Probably, airtime sales increased by over 30% ever since Ugandans started going to Iraq in 2005. The biggest population of Africans in Iraq is for South Africans and Ugandans. Every tribe in Uganda is at least represented.
Within our bases, there are both permanent and temporary houses. I have a room which is about five by 10 feet in which I sleep. Most shelters are made of containers that have Air conditioners (ACs).
The ACs help to provide warmth when it is cold and cool the rooms when it is hot. They look good. You can compare them to a three-star hotel typical of developing countries.
Besides the volatile security situation, the weather in Iraq is another problem both during summer and winter. During summer, it is very hot. If you do not drink water, you can die of thirst. Good enough, there is constant supply of cold mineral water. In fact, summer is as hot as a sauna, but winter is terrible. The temperature goes as low as eight degrees centigrade in Baghdad. To keep alive, we are given thermal clothing that generate heat. This kind of life can make you think about home. Some Ugandans feel homesick after a month and others create excuses to return home. Those who persevere, return home at least after every six months for a holiday, if you want.
I was taken to Iraq as a guard in 2006. At first I was handling a machine gun, but after some time, I acquired more training and I became a dog handler.
My normal day starts at 4:45am because I have to be at work before 5:30am. I have my breakfast at 5:00am. Breakfast is normally African tea and all types of accompaniments like bread, cakes, eggs, chapatti are available.
I then proceed to work in my car. I work under the K9 unit, a dog handling section of the coalition forces in Iraq. Others are Life Support and Guard units. The dogs we handle (German shepherds) are used to carry out foot patrols and detect explosives.
They are so sensitive that even when a car passes near a place where a bomb has gone off or when a car has been used to carry explosives, they will detect it. On several occasions we have stopped cars from entering our base under such circumstances. These dogs are also used to detect explosives in buildings. It can take two dogs about two to three hours to search a building with 100 rooms.
Our normal working time is between 10 to 12 hours every day and six hours on weekends. Unlike in Uganda, weekends in Iraq are observed on Fridays and Saturdays. The rest are normal working days.
There is not too much work but it is better you have something to do rather than being idle because you can get bored stiff. We handle tough and professional dogs. They cost between $8000 (about sh13m) and $15,000 (about sh24m) depending on their experience. While moving with the dog in public, you have to alert the people by shouting that ‘dog passing through’. If you don’t and it bites someone, you face it rough with the law.
But if you warn them and they hesitate to give way, then you have no case if it bites anyone. The good thing is that they are vaccinated against rabies. But still if a dog bites someone, investigations will have to be done to ascertain if you really sounded the warning. You have to hold it by the lead at close range so that it does not attack people. My dog has bitten me several times though in a playful manner. When not at work, the dog is kept in a private room so that it does not get used to people, lest wrong persons befriend it.
Our base is about 15 acres big and machine-gun wielding coalition soldiers monitor it 24 hours every day. The only boring thing is that you can keep guard of your assigned area and no enemy attacks, but you have to stay stuck on your gun. There are other bases that are as big as 45 square miles. All coalition bases have anti-missile installations that divert them once directed to a particular camp, and this has happened many times. The unfortunate thing is that at times the diverted missiles end up hitting people’s homes. We have our lunch at work and when we retire, we have supper at the dining facility in our base. This is where we sleep. There are also halls of entertainment with huge screens and gyms where we go after work to relax. The entertainment places can house over 100 people at ago.
Within the camp, we have dry cleaners and cooks as well. All these services are rendered to us at no cost. The people are paid by the coalition funds. We only pay for airtime in case we want to call back home. It costs about sh300 per minute when calling someone in Uganda from Iraq. One dollar (sh1600) can take you for over five minutes.
There are also free call and internet centres provided to us, only that they are most of the time congested. Probably, airtime sales increased by over 30% ever since Ugandans started going to Iraq in 2005. The biggest population of Africans in Iraq is for South Africans and Ugandans. Every tribe in Uganda is at least represented.
Within our bases, there are both permanent and temporary houses. I have a room which is about five by 10 feet in which I sleep. Most shelters are made of containers that have Air conditioners (ACs).
The ACs help to provide warmth when it is cold and cool the rooms when it is hot. They look good. You can compare them to a three-star hotel typical of developing countries.
Besides the volatile security situation, the weather in Iraq is another problem both during summer and winter. During summer, it is very hot. If you do not drink water, you can die of thirst. Good enough, there is constant supply of cold mineral water. In fact, summer is as hot as a sauna, but winter is terrible. The temperature goes as low as eight degrees centigrade in Baghdad. To keep alive, we are given thermal clothing that generate heat. This kind of life can make you think about home. Some Ugandans feel homesick after a month and others create excuses to return home. Those who persevere, return home at least after every six months for a holiday, if you want.