RECRUITMENT SYSTEM AND TALENT DEVELOPMENT IN UGANDA

Jacob Waiswa
Situation Health Analyst
Dishma-Inc.
P.O. Box 8885,
Kampala-Uganda
Tel. +256392614655/+256752542504
dishma.imhs@gmail.com
www.situationhealthanalysis.blogspot.com

Since liberalizing the economy in 1887, government of the national resistance movement has had either all its corporations sold off or mismanaged. All those that suffered mismanagement collapsed indefinitely. Private sector, now, determines the fate of young employees –with no government intervention.

With emphasis of education being put on sitting in offices, the reality has been far different. That prompts Uganda’s most ambitious yet promising youth to be focused on getting recruited into powerful corporate and government jobs as well as by means of innovations –something that in many cases never come their way.

With 37% young people showing their potential for development; 24% not; 38% (sometimes); and 1% (do not know), many Ugandans are still held up in the past –where education automatically guaranteed Ugandans a place in the labor market.

It can be further stressed that changed socioeconomic structures and dynamics mean something different –which gave way to the most creative to rule rather than those hoping to receive a telephone call for a waiting job. As a result, young people, now, are hopeless about the future. The matter is made even worse by the lack of government intervention in the economy where the private sector rules.

Either ways the argument that more investment will help create jobs only causes dissatisfaction among Ugandans as such is characterized by poor conditions of work –without weekend rests, maternal leave, a good pay, and respect for public holidays –yet with creative works and private investment one would have time to himself or herself; personal programming –to the best interest of the individual.

Highly flexible employment regulations enhance overall productivity growth and employment opportunities. Any regulations set by government of Uganda today only caters for the massive benefit of the foreign investors while ignoring the citizens’ economic standing.

Yet it is the local population that provides an alternative market for industrial goods. It is different, though, to firms that produce for export only. It is here that the population becomes most irrelevant.

And unfair recruitment system at 78% spells the difficult environment government finds itself in –where, because of the high demand for jobs by thousands of graduates each year, not all are absorbed into the public sector.

As a result, the stiff competition for jobs compels officials to find alternatives to cope with the situation –which include price tags on advertised jobs such that the highest bidder takes it all, or by reserving them for a family friend or relative –who is going through the same agony –of finding a job.

In conclusion, the unfair recruitment system at 78% is a product of circumstances –of congested labor market and population explosion. And, with exploring to talents and potential for development at 37%, it is a terrible situation –which will only increase unemployment and associated risks like crime and costs of dealing with it.

There is thus need to promote entrepreneurial mentalities from family levels through schools and tertiary institutions –which will reduce the burden of forced nepotism and bribery in the country.

However, such initiatives for development among recent graduates must not be resolved theoretically, but with financial backing given to them –as they graduate from schools and tertiary institutions –to go out and develop precious ideas they nurse. Such ideas ought to consider the abandoned agricultural potential.

Research Business Development in Uganda

Jacob Waiswa
Peace and Conflict Center
P.O. Box 7062,
Makerere University
Kampala-Uganda
jwaiswa@arts.mak.ac.ug

Research is most demanding activity everyone can ever face. It calls for both intellectual and physical energies. It calls for an effective plan and subsequently getting committed to it to its very successful end. Time, commitment and patience are other special considerations.

Before its start, a schedule is set specifying time of engagement with research while along the way researcher ensures total commitment to get through it as planned.

And of course, so many attractions show up during the course of the research study or otherwise get frustrated and disappointed along. Being patient and sustaining it becomes the answer as researcher looks more to its end than really enjoy doing it.

Whatever the intentions of the research, it is never just about the data collector. The community among which researcher works is put into perspective by, for example, anticipating appropriate time to meet them, presentation of clear information, being respectful showed not only in speech but the dressing option, and the burden of responding to so many tiring and heavily time consuming questions. Along the way they tire and demand not to continue.

It becomes an abuse and ill-treatment to take them on further than the time they are willing to give. The other aspect that researchers often elude is the question of benefit of the study to the interviewees. Such is often either deliberately omitted during the induction of the prospecting interviewees or not clearly mentioned whilst carrying out interviews.

At more advanced stages is the question of paying for interviewee’s irreplaceable time. That has been criticized much because of the ‘negative’ influence it can have on the nature of responses made.

Research is a business to many firms that yields high incomes and helps to offer part-time employment to new graduates. Those employed to carry out data collection task are equally pressed hard to accept low wages to minimize firm’s cost of operation. Besides they equally breakdown owing to the huge target of work demanded by their employers.

The wages can be so low that they cannot sustain efforts of interviewers throughout the project time or just fairly ok to sustain such efforts but with no savings for them to make, or just good enough to motivate interviewer met every requirement of the study. Fortunately or unfortunately, the implication of the wages verses the cost of living will definitely affect the outcome of the results.

A hindrance, very common in Africa is weather, but rarely put into perspective during the planning phases of research. When heavy rains start, interviewers are not well protected from the heavy rains, while during warm temperatures they are not well facilitated to deal with dehydration.

So, because of such conditions, interviewers tire easily, resort to short-cut and unauthorised ways to generate research information, or postpone the day’s task to some other enabling day to gather information.

Often denied fact is failure to acknowledge that the selected tools of data collection are best understood by its designer rather than the one hired to make use of it. The second-placed user may completely get confused by it or make mistakes. To the very worst, pretesting is characterized by defense of errors detected rather than make corrections to avoid unnecessary ambiguities and questions that do not make sense to the interviewees.

Since disagreements over usage of verbs and interpretation of questions consume a lot of time, a stage is reached when all parties will agree to disagree or compromise to have a question error stand.

The work-load set by research firms seeks to minimize the cost of operation. In most cases such targets are unrealistic dreams –convincingly made real for the hired person to become a donkey to reach them. The huge work-load becomes a critical source of stress –leading to constant aches, fatigue, burn out, and loss of interest just mid-way to the end of the task.

Those prompt interviewers to quit, to adjust the procedure of research, and to go against the instructions as coping means. More investment in the area of research and better remuneration owing to the huge benefits research comes with like efficiency and effective of programming and of public goods and services delivery makes it meaningful.

WORKING AND LIVING IN RURAL AREAS: IS IT CHALLENGING OR JUST NORMAL?

A CASE OF RURAL BUSOGA, EASTERN UGANDA

Different reasons explain why people go to rural areas –which might be unemployment characteristic of urban areas then compelling them to try out prospects of agriculture in rural areas, job transfers or deployments, and just to adventure –relax away from pressure-some town life.

As soon as one arrived there, all eyes would be on him or her. They rural people are best at telling -who is or not part of them. One could soon see defensive faces –which are usually natural ways organisms protect their territories from invaders. Rumors would then fast spread -regarding the arrival of an alien.

The seemingly “worse” scenario could be the case of a team -with almost equal ratio of men to women. This would easily trigger a mental flash that so was a wife or husband to the other.

For them women and men –working together are in a way working about, very close to or actually in a romantic relationship –especially if no team member crossed over to find a lover from the local community. There is a common believe that traveling without a wife or husband, shows evidence of “unmarried” person, and thus, too “single to be scooped by whoever picks confidence.

And when you live singly in a room or lodge, they would think and work around the clock so that a paired with an opposite sex is formed. Some of the tactics would, for example, be trying to propose or lobbying for you, ridiculing, flocking of mainly young women (including the married) parading onto your veranda or constantly use peeping gesture, everyday -for a chance of being met and perhaps action taken. In fact, it could be as though living in big brother house.

Like the saying goes, “Basoga are sex-maniacs,” rural areas, would prove it right. Surely, sex play is a strong mind-set there and as easily done anytime as taking tea. So if you do not join the “tea-taking” family, then labels like “you are impotent,” would ensue.

You would perhaps retain pity due to the facts that many young people stand a high risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and STIs every month, and teenagers getting married as early as 13 years. But to them, anyway, tea-taking would be important.

If no formal introductions were made to local authorities by a visiting team -within a day or few days later, they (authorities) would track them along until found and interrogated -to reduce on community suspicion and anxieties. Sometimes they would add “flavor” by teasing or bullying visitors -as if trying to identify themselves before them (visitors).

After getting direct information from the visitors, the local authorities or security personnel would then call a local meeting, with visitors in attendance -to counsel their suspicious subjects, and thereafter, urge them to support the visitors.

When they finally let the visitors into their territory, for different reasons, all would want to stick onto you. The elderly would, for example, want financial help, and the opposite sex –including the married ones, would compete for their share, while others might choose friendship. Any association with them would be seen as prestigious, and praises showered to whoever sought company.

What is shocking there too would be the fact that marriage concept either does not exist or simply not felt and practiced. Whether married or in presence of a spouse, fellows would not hesitate to make love advances to any of the visitors.

Besides, would want to deplete you of the limited belongings –including the current outfit at the time of meeting them. Imagine serving them out everyday, throughout your stay there -and one by one until the entire community is covered.

Declining to do “charity” because it is just one pair or an item for you could bring serious negative judgments, everyday defaming comments and insulting statements. They would choose to nourish their intentions by launching an opposition against your team’s organization’s programmes.

Their biggest victory would be “defection” of a team member to them. Thereon, it would be much easier to break into further -to the extent of stalling office business or team work.

They would use the departed person to win other team members to their side or “vote” to fight –using insulting labels, possibly until productivity was reduced to zero. As a consequence, the defected member could be the first to fall out or slow down team progress –since most of his or her time would be spend to please a bigger community set.

During the team’s stay, temptation could be that in order for their mission to succeed, community members must be given “energizers” or else petition organization bosses to provide “thank yous” –before or at the end of every community event.

One now wonders as to why communities would ask charity for charity. If for instance an organization provided them with free formal and informal education, why would they (communities), on the other hand, ask for money in return for the same services that benefit them? Come 2011, politicians will suffer.

To note is that from the day the team arrives to the end of the mission, communities evaluate team members –on the basis of culture and statuses verses local cases. And whoever took a chat with any member of the team, he or she would have important news for the rest (members of the community) –be it jokes or serious organization policy communiqué. It would be a talk to one person, as the same or amplified to the entire local community

They could confuse statements made by visitors for the purposes of entertaining their colleagues back home. Anything spoken out would potentially make important headlines for them.

If any member of the visiting team was found speaking to a community member, the rest would wonder about what might be the possible details of the chat. Indeed they would soon find out. Whilst there, It would be like living a celebrity life –surrounded with several paparazzi members.

They become so critical that any action and word spoken would be subjected to local norms scale for diagnosis. Very much so, they would want you to be like them. Their evaluating team or scouts could go as far as your bedroom area, lodge or house to monitor visitors’ behavioral pattern –whether they are consistent to their own or not.

In fact, there is never privacy, as people make it their job to check you out all the time, know your thinking process and hear something that could be reported, as they watch or observe.

Anything different from their norms and way of life is like being “criminal” -which could unfortunately or unfortunately raise more controversy than not about the visiting team.

Excesses of their actions, might force you, member of the team or entire group to become defensive -yet again, another disaster. They could begin referring to you as anti-people, as despising them or arrogant.

Very surprising, also, is that even when you get busy writing reports, they would still find it criminal and fail to recognize the fact that time, then, is organization’s or office’s.

They could be funny, expecting you to join them in idle talks -instead of following your office programme. If you were stuck in there doing work, they would make disturbing noise outside to seem like it were a communication demanding or asking you come to an end of it all and grant them your time, as well.

After sensing the danger of being social and free to them, and now in favor reserved life, one would think that alone has been a good decision. Yet too much, too less or no interaction could hardly resolve the matter. Instead, “criminal” branding would worse.

The ringing question would perhaps be: what do these people want or should the contract be terminated? If you are not strong enough to handle such pressure, probably self-destructive choices and decisions could be made.

Upon arrival, it would be important that the visiting team carry out survey of the area to orient themselves with the nature of people there. Such would provide them with ideas of who they are about to deal with. In case of a bothersome encounter with any member of the community, a team member would neither find it surprising nor difficulty dealing with them.

Much of what might be sent out to you must be given a deaf ear or blind eye most of the time -to avoid mental intoxication or getting burnout at the duty station, and at the expense of “minor” local community members.

Attention could be served to them only when done with work, though as a matter of good public relations, sometimes you may need to negotiate much of the time about your position.

Also, care must be taken to filter out information that is best for them. Only what is diagnosed as suitable could be relayed to them, rather than having to communicate each and everything.

Content must, therefore, be categorized into what could be considered as personal or office secrets, and that free for public consumption or take. Truly, with persistence, these people could know and understand who you are as well as your much cherished values.

Really, managing life there, would call for self-discipline from one or a few members –who then could motivate the “play little boys and girls” back to productivity. They could, for example, call for or organize regular meetings to solve team problems -as they arise.

As part of the way forward perhaps the remaining group could re-define themselves and re-think organization values, while at the same time accepting to work without the defected colleague.

Jacob Waiswa
Situation Health Analysis
waiswajacobo@yahoo.co.uk