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By Alexander Luyima | Hoima Post
Uganda today faces a reality too glaring to ignore. More than 170,000 Ugandans are officially registered as domestic workers in Saudi Arabia, a number larger than the population of Butambala District, which stood at about 140,000 in the 2014 census. This means entire districts’ worth of our people now scrub floors and clean houses abroad simply because home offers them little or nothing to live on.
This comparison is not just statistical. It exposes how survival, not service, has become the driving force of Ugandan life. For thousands of citizens, the dream of making it at home has collapsed. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states have become the lifeline. Families now depend on remittances sent back by daughters and sons working as maids, drivers, or guards abroad. According to the Ministry of Gender, more than 200,000 Ugandans are currently in the Middle East, and the numbers keep rising.
At the same time, politics has turned into another escape route. Local council seats, once created to bring government closer to the people, are now fought for like prized jobs. Not because candidates are bursting with service plans, but because a seat means a steady allowance, a chance at influence, and most importantly survival. As one governance analyst in Kampala noted, “In Uganda, politics is no longer about vision. It is about survival. You either escape to Saudi Arabia or you fight for a local council seat.”
Yet Uganda is a youth-dominated country, with more than 75 percent of the population under 30. This generation is restless, unemployed, and increasingly angry. They see their friends dying in unsafe labour conditions abroad. They see councillors treating politics like lifeboats. They see a system rigged against their dreams. Enter the National Unity Platform, led by Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, also known as Bobi Wine. Unlike older opposition movements, NUP has captured the frustrations of the youthful majority and transformed them into a generational revolt.
Mr. Yoweri Museveni has faced opposition before, but never one so directly tied to the lived reality of the young majority. Bobi Wine’s message, “people power, our power,” resonates because it cuts to the heart of survival politics. For many Ugandans, 2026 is not just another election. It is a referendum on whether our generation will continue to clean houses in Saudi Arabia or finally take charge of the house called Uganda.
Uganda must now confront uncomfortable questions. Why do we have more citizens abroad as maids than we have in entire districts at home? Why has politics become an act of survival rather than service? And most urgently, what does it mean when the youth majority, the same group that fills Gulf airports daily, says “enough is enough”?
The answer to these questions will shape not just the 2026 elections but the very survival of Uganda as a nation. This is not a call to despair but a call to debate. Will Uganda remain a country that exports its youth and recycles its rulers, or will the youth finally seize the opportunity to turn survival politics into transformative politics?
🔹 “We are tired of exporting maids and importing leaders who serve themselves. 2026 must be about reclaiming our country.”
🔹 “In Uganda, politics is no longer about vision. It is about survival. You either escape to Saudi Arabia or you fight for a local council seat.”
🔹 “More Ugandans are scrubbing floors in Saudi Arabia than living in some districts at home. That should alarm every leader.”
✍️ By Alexander Luyima | Hoima Post
