They paid sh6m for one-week job in Dubai

By By Eria Luyimbazi and Joseph Makumbi

Their dream was to work in Dubai where they hoped to earn big but as it turned out they had been conned. They parted with sh6m each to go to Dubai in search of greener pastures but after just a week working as porters at a construction site they returned - with nothing.

According to Moses Binoga, the coordinator of the anti-human trafficking taskforce at the Ministry of Internal affairs, Christine Kyokushaba, who is under arrest, took two young men to Dubai under the guise of  tourists to evade the law enforcement officers.

The young men had been assured they would work as security guards on reaching Dubai; however, the grim truth dawned on them when they ended up at a construction site working as porters.

The work lasted just a week and they were on their own. Fortunately they managed to maneuver their way and return to Uganda upon which they filed a case at police.

Kyokushaba was arrested when she returned to Uganda and it is assumed she had come to make another trip with 'tourists' to work in Dubai. One of the complainants, John Munanura, alerted police of her return after a tip off by friends.

Binoga says Kyokushaba works with Uruk Tourism in Dubai which makes it easy for her to take would-be kyeyo people under the guise of tourists.

Binoga said traffickers have now devised new means of trafficking people to evade enforcement officers after they put in place stringent laws regarding taking people abroad for employment. He said there are only 25 companies licensed to take people abroad for employment.

Kyokushaba does not work with any of the companies.

"We put in place stringent measures that people seeking employment abroad have to go through and to frustrate human traffickers. However these have devised new means of taking people as tourists and victims always frustrated when they don’t get jobs they were promised," he said.

Kyokushaba is now facing charges of human trafficking at Special Investigations Unit (SIU) in Kireka oguli on file number SD 14/21/04/2015.