Federation of Ugandan Migrant Workers Associations moves to sue government over neglect, exploitation, and vanishing citizens under labor export program; ministry faces legal action for alleged breach of duty.
Kampala, Uganda Uganda’s Attorney General, Kilyowa Kiwanuka, has been served a final notice by the Federation of Ugandan Migrant Workers Associations (FUMWA) and its lawyers, M/S Guma & Co. Advocates, demanding full accountability for the alarming number of Ugandan migrant workers who have disappeared, suffered abuse, or died abroad after being cleared for labor export by the Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development (MGLSD).

This legal ultimatum follows years of escalating reports of Ugandans mainly in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states vanishing, enduring torture, languishing in foreign jails, or being deported under circumstances that activists and victims’ families describe as “preventable tragedies.” The government now has 45 days to respond before FUMWA files a formal petition at the High Court, seeking sweeping reforms, compensation, and a forensic audit of the entire labor export system.
Mounting Frustration, Legal Action
The notice, served on July 24, 2025, accuses the MGLSD of “negligence and breach of statutory and constitutional duties,” arguing that the ministry’s regulatory framework has “failed catastrophically to protect citizens.” According to FUMWA, government-licensed recruitment agencies have operated with impunity, exploiting workers and exposing them to trafficking, abuse, and death, while the ministry’s reactive suspensions of agencies such as Albail Manpower Services, Middle East Consultants, and over a dozen others have left already-deployed workers “abandoned and unprotected.”

Key Grievances and Demands
The intended petition cites systemic failures in licensing, monitoring, and aftercare, including the suspension of agencies without providing alternative support, leaving vulnerable workers and their families “with no urgency responsible for their follow-up or assistance.” It also highlights the ministry’s alleged failure to meet international obligations under ILO conventions and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, to which Uganda is a party.

Reliefs demanded by FUMWA include:
Immediate search, rescue, and repatriation of stranded or abandoned Ugandan migrant workers abroad
Full accountability for all funds collected by the ministry reportedly $30 per job order for deployment clearance
General damages compensation of UGX 500 billion (over $130 million) for affected workers and families
Ratification of ILO Convention No. 189 and suspension of bilateral labor agreements with countries that violate migrant rights

A halt to labor externalization until comprehensive reforms are enacted
Establishment of a tripartite forensic audit committee to scrutinize recruitment agencies and government units, including a lifestyle audit of implicated officials
Creation of a compensation fund jointly managed by government, recruiters, and FUMWA
Legal Grounding
The petition will be based on Uganda’s Constitution, the Employment Act, the Civil Procedure and Limitation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, the Government Proceedings Act, the Employment (Recruitment of Ugandan Migrant Workers) Regulations, and relevant international conventions.
What Happens Now?
If the Attorney General and the ministry do not act on these demands within 45 days, FUMWA will proceed to the High Court to force government action. The case is already being closely watched by international labor rights groups, as Uganda’s labor export program has become one of the most controversial in East Africa.

Statements from the Federation
A spokesperson for FUMWA stated, “For too long, our people have been treated as commodities, not citizens. We are demanding justice, not just for the dead and disappeared, but for all migrant workers and their families who have suffered under this broken system. The government must be held accountable.”
Government Response Awaited
As of press time, the Attorney General’s office had not issued a public response.
This move marks a watershed moment for labor rights in Uganda, with the fate of thousands of migrant workers and the credibility of the country’s labor export regime hanging in the balance.