MP Calls for Probe Into Recruitment of Ugandans to Fight for Russia

What the report says

Rukiga County MP Patrick Katabaazi is calling on Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to investigate reports that young Ugandans are being drawn into Russia’s war effort through misleading job offers. According to Nile Post, he raised the issue during a Wednesday parliamentary sitting chaired by Speaker Jacob Marksons Oboth, saying a constituent had reportedly left Uganda expecting legitimate employment but later found himself on the battlefield in Ukraine.

Katabaazi urged the government to examine the recruitment networks and explain what protection is being offered to Ugandans who seek work abroad. He said the concern is not only about one case, but about a wider pattern in which people are allegedly promised attractive salaries or civilian jobs and then end up in military service. The MP framed the issue as one of trafficking and exploitation, especially for young people looking for opportunities outside Uganda.

The Nile Post report said the concerns come amid other accounts of Ugandans allegedly being lured to Russia and later deployed in the conflict. It also noted that, earlier this year, Uganda’s Foreign Affairs ministry reportedly asked its embassy in Moscow to look into similar allegations. The ministry had not responded by the time of publication, according to the article. More broadly, the case fits a wider trend seen in some countries where overseas job scams are linked to forced or deceptive recruitment connected to the Russia-Ukraine war.