Renowned Human Rights Defender Aloysius Matovu Kizza alias Junior has rescued a Ugandan domestic worker who was being mistreated and tortured by her bosses in Saudi Arabia.
The young woman identified as Sianah Nalubula,went to Saudi Arabia last year to work as a housemaid through a local external recruitment firm in Mengo.
However, while at her workstation, Sianah was subjected to severe mistreatment by her bosses and boys at home also on several occasions tried to rape her.
On top of that, the 27 year old woman did not receive a single penny for the one year she worked as a housemaid.
According to Mr Matovu, Sianah called him after getting his contact from one of her friends.
The activist says after listening to her plight, he didn’t sit back;he started reaching out to relevant authorities to ensure that the tortured young woman is rescued from her tormentors.
“On 28th April this year, I ran a TV program on Baba TV about the plight of housemaids working in Middle Eastern countries. One of the person who probably watched it, gave her my number. She called me pleading, and asked for my help. She was being treated as a slave with no pay. They used to pay her but in turn they steal the money on top of beating her severely,” Mr Matovu said during an interview with this news website.
“… After her narration, I tried to engage the recruitment firm that took her to Saudi Arabia but they were so arrogant, so we failed to reach an agreement. What I did next was to look for Sianah’s relatives who included her next of kin, Muhammad Mbabali and her mother. We reported the case to Old Kampala Police.”
Mr Matovu also revealed that after reporting the case to police, he further put the Recruitment Agency on spot by tasking them to ensure that Sianah returns home safely.
“I also managed to get the contact of Sianah’s boss in Saudi Arabia. I requested him to stop mistreating her and that he should take her back to the office where he picked her. Luckily enough, the man heed to my advice and returned Sianah to office on Wednesday, May 25th .”
Mr Matovu who is also a media personality further explained that after taking her back to office, the labour firm asked for Shs 2million to facilitate Sianah’s exit visa and transportation back to Uganda.
“We paid the money on Monday 30th May and she was on the plane on Friday 3rd June.” he joyfully asserted.
On the other hand, Mr Matovu is also working on another rescue mission of two other girls (Doreen and Harriet) working as housemaids and are being tortured by their employers in the Middle East.
In the past decade, tens of thousands of Ugandans are estimated to have flocked to the Middle East, sending hundreds of millions of dollars from the region back home. Ugandans have been lured by the promise of well-paid work, to support families back home as well as improve their livelihoods. Unfortunately, for years, widespread claims of exploitation and abuse of workers have been the order of the day.
On top of fighting human trafficking, Mr Matovu is also a strong advocate against HIV/AIDS and in July this year he will be heading to Montreal, Canada to attend the International AIDS Conference 2022.
The 24th AIDS conference that will run from July 29 to August 2nd, shall have an exciting lineup of global health experts who will highlight the latest progress in the global response.
He will travel with a team of 12 young activists and they will use the sidelines of the main event to perform their skits about the scourge.
“We are going as delegates but we shall showcase our dram plays at the Conference’s Global Village. We shall also attend a Symposium of Ugandans who meet in Town Halls to pave ways on what they should do to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS,” he disclosed.
“Our trip to Canada is being sponsored by Mega Standard Supermarket (where Matovu works as Media Manager) and Yvonne Chaka Chaka’s Princess of Africa Foundation.”
Some of the activists Mr Matovu will go with include; Muwonge Samuel, Rutinampora Brian, Kobusingye Cynthia, Sejjongo Dareen Ronnie, Migadde Chelsea Marcia, Mbawadde Helvin Getrude, Namuddu Docus Flavia, Wagalinda Dorothy, among others.
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