JOBS: Uganda, Somalia agree terms for Ugandan workers

Gen. Henry Tumukunde (left), Uganda’s Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development, and Prof Salim Alio Ibro, Somalia’s Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, exchange signed copies of the labour agreement in Mogadishu on Thursday, 22 October 2026.

Mogadishu, Somalia | NEWS CORRESPONDENT | Uganda and Somalia have agreed terms for the employment of Ugandans in Somalia. The terms require written contracts, wages paid into workers’ own bank accounts and employer-funded insurance and travel.

The agreement was signed in Mogadishu on Thursday by Gen. Henry Tumukunde, Uganda’s Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development, and Prof Salim Alio Ibro, Somalia’s Minister of Labour and Social Affairs. It was signed on the final day of a mid-term review of the Uganda–Somalia Joint Permanent Commission (JPC).

Uganda says more than 20,000 of its citizens work in Somalia, many in education, health, logistics and private security.

Under the agreement, workers must be at least 21 and hold a written contract. The contract must be signed before departure and registered with Somalia’s labour ministry on arrival. Terms can be changed only in the worker’s favour.

According to officials familiar with the agreement, employers will pay for visas, travel to and from the workplace, and a round trip home every two years. They must also pay wages into bank accounts in workers’ names, issue payslips and insure workers against death and disability.

The agreement bars forced labour and passport confiscation. It also protects workers’ right to contact their families and embassies. Workers may change employers if they are not given the work they were promised. The bodies of workers who die abroad will be repatriated at their families’ request.

Uganda, in turn, must ensure that workers it sends abroad have no criminal records, have passed medical checks and are not overcharged by recruitment agencies.

Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the agreement creates a framework for regulated employment, fair recruitment and the protection of workers’ rights. The ministry quoted Tumukunde as saying goodwill between nations must be turned into practical commitments.

Officials who attended the talks said Tumukunde told delegates the agreement should help end unlawful dismissals, unpaid benefits, passport confiscation and the holding of workers incommunicado. He also cited unpaid visa arrears, denial of return tickets, work without contracts or permits, and recruitment through overseas firms not registered in Somalia, the officials said.

The agreement will take effect once both governments confirm internal approvals. It will run for three years and renew automatically.

The labour deal adds to agreements on security, education and immigration management signed at the JPC’s second session in Kampala in October 2025. According to the ministry, both sides have committed to fully constituting a Joint Permanent Investment and Business Council by 30 November.

Uganda was the first country to deploy troops in Mogadishu, in 2007, under the African Union mission. It has said it will complete their withdrawal by 1 August 2027.

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