Ugandans working in Somalia will be entitled to written contracts, wages paid into their own bank accounts, insurance against death and disability, and an employer-funded trip home every two years under a labour agreement the two countries signed on Thursday.
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, signed the agreement in Mogadishu. 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, every worker must be at least 21 and hold a written contract signed before leaving Uganda. The contract must be registered with Somalia’s labour ministry on arrival, and its terms can be changed only in the worker’s favour.
According to officials familiar with the agreement, employers will cover the cost of visas and of travel to and from the workplace. They will also pay for a round trip home every two years. Wages must be paid into bank accounts in workers’ names, and employers must issue payslips.
The agreement bars forced labour and passport confiscation. It also protects workers’ right to contact their families and Uganda’s embassy. A worker who is not given the job promised in their contract may move to another employer. If a worker dies abroad, the body will be repatriated at the family’s request.
The protections respond to complaints Tumukunde raised during the talks. Officials who attended said he 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 deal also places duties on Uganda. The government 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.
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 that Uganda and Somalia signed in Kampala in October 2025. According to the ministry, both sides have also committed to fully constituting a Joint Permanent Investment and Business Council by 30 November.
Somalia will host the JPC’s third session in 2027, and the two sides will review progress annually.
The post Contracts, insurance and trips home: what the Uganda–Somalia labour deal means for workers appeared first on Watchdog Uganda.