Alfred, (not real name for safety reasons) is all praises for the personal support he received from Dr. Aggrey David Kibenge Permanent Secretary Ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development. He was recently repatriated from Myanmar after a year ordeal in rebel captivity.
“I am really grateful, who am I to attract the attention of such big people”.He said when he came by to say thank you to the Permanent Secretary who he was meeting for the first time
I received a call from the Prime Minister Robinah Nabanja, she had received a distress call from some Ugandan Youth, most of them computer scientists who had been lured into Myanmar on false promises of Jobs and ended up in rebel captivity in the jungles of Myanmar.
“Definitely the Prime Minister contacted me on the understanding that the Ministry of Gender is responsible for externalisation of labour, but these were victims of trafficking.” Kibenge says
As the clock ticked so did the situation get desperate for the trafficked youth. “They were using us to commit internet fraud and you had a target if you fell short of the target they would punish you using electric shock.” Alfred narrates
Meanwhile in Kampala Dr. Aggrey Kibenge had advised the Prime Minister that the issue of the kidnapped youth would require an Inter-Ministerial committee including Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Gender and others. It’s this advice that would break the jinx
“What came to my mind in the first place is that these are Ugandans, irrespective of how they ended up in Myanmar my duty is to ensure their safe return home.” Kibenge said when one of the rescued youth paid him a visit at the Ministry of Gender
“I kept calling the Prime Minister, Permanent Secretary and later Ambassador Bigombe who kept assuring us that our issue is being worked on and that is what kept our hope alive.” Recalls Alfred
“He would call you sometimes late in the night sometimes when you are in meetings and you step aside to talk to him, the last time you called I think I was in Geneva” Recalls Kibenge
Meanwhile in captivity the situation was getting desperate every passing day, many mostly Kenyans were committing suicide, other would be killed by the rebels, on average two people would die every day but every time we talked to some body home you would get energised that one day we shall be free.
Alfred had kept a phone on him during captivity, and as fate would have it his phone looked exactly like the phone the rebels gave them to use for their daily routine of committing online fraud in on banks and bitcoin. It’s that phone that helped him to call the Prime Minister Hon Robinah Nabanja and Permanent Secretary Aggrey David Kibenge. The phone contacts were got after a blind such on the Internet.
Every time I would get through on a call other would come around to listen in, Betty Bigombe asked as to share photos with her and we took the photos for 26 of us, others feared to take the photos, it appears it’s those photo rebels relied on to set us free those who feared to take photos remained in captivity
