Searching for a Way Out

Francis Otieno came three years ago from the Nyanza region of Kenya to study at the renowned Makerere University in Uganda. Like many foreign students who court giddy adventure, Otieno, 21, shunned offers from established institutions in Nairobi to pursue a degree in Office and Information Management in neighboring Uganda.

Last Thursday, Otieno joined 11,021 graduates at the University's multipurpose hall to celebrate with families and friends. Stylish graduates and their parents dressed in colorful dress for the occasion called Gomes for women and Kikoyi for men. They filled the campus in poses and pictures.

Beneath the happy faces, however, are worries and apprehension: Statistics from Ugandan Labor Department indicate that there are only 8,000 jobs for more than 400,000 students who finish tertiary education each year. In reality, it means that 50 graduates compete for one job position in the country.

For the new graduates, this development is not a shock. Many have actually devised means of beating the gridlock. Otieno is one of them. The Kenyan national plans to move back to his country right after the celebrations. "I am going back to Kenya for my Masters program. My parents cannot support my education because it costs about 500,000 Ugandan shillings ($210) to finance a Masters program. The unemployment rate here in Uganda is high and I may not be able to cope." he said.

Otieno is not alone. Louise Namirembe, another graduate, plans to leave Uganda, where her parents and siblings live, and migrate to Rwanda. "It is very hard to get a job in Uganda. It is really difficult and not many people are lucky to get a job. I have some friends in Rwanda who have promised to help me get a job. I will be moving permanently to Rwanda very soon," she said.

Unless the economic environment becomes more favorable to local and foreign investors, the employment turf might not change soon. Information from the Ugandan Investment Authority and the Ugandan Bureau of Statistics says only 113,000 out of 400,000 graduates are absorbed into formal employment each year. Uganda's economy, buffeted by an inflation rate that rose from 5 percent in January last year to about 30 percent in November, is one of the poorest in the region. As more and more graduates continue to feed off their aging parents, a general discontent pervades the mood among many graduates.

The Legatum Institute in London recently rated Ugandans as the eleventh saddest people in the world. According to the Institute, "only 3 in 10 people consider the local job market to be favorable, while the expectations for future economic growth were poor, despite an economy that grew at an annualized average of five per cent from 2005-2009." Based on a 2010 survey data of 110 countries, the Institute examined indices like economy, entrepreneurship and opportunity to chart its Prosperity Index. Other parameters include governance, education, health, safety and security, personal freedom and social capital. The satisfaction rate for Ugandans is 4.2 out of 10.

But there is a need to look inward, according to Mondo Kagonyera, chancellor of Makerere University. Speaking over a sea of heads at the multipurpose hall of the university, Kagonyera urged the new graduates to try their hands at entrepreneurship: "Innovation is an essential component of any nation's long-term growth with strategy and any funding devoted towards helping turn these creative ideas into a successful economically viable projects will greatly ease the current strife faced by our graduates who search for jobs for years on end.'' He is convinced, however, that government needs to provide funds to help graduates transform their viable ideas to creative projects that will provide employment.

Bernard Muthemge, a 2010 alumni of the University, supports Kagonyera's view. A graduate of Business Administration, Muthemge admits that the employment market is unfriendly and difficult. "Graduates are supposed to create jobs and not search for jobs. They should invest in business and strive to be an employer. It is becoming so hard to get a job and if you have University education, you have been equipped with the right skills to create your own business."

As Otieno, Namirembe and other desperate graduates make plans to leave the country, the high unemployment rate, a constant in many African nations, is a dark spot on a bright graduation day.