Catherine Peace Namugenyi knows firsthand how life in Uganda can just refuse to march to one’s beat, and the only feasible solution is leaving family behind to seek hopefully greener pastures wherever they present themselves. 

Her greener pastures promised to be in Saudi Arabia, in spite of all the horror stories she had heard and read about casual workers (locally referred to as kadama), specifically those that work in Saudi Arabia and Oman. Against all naysayers’ talk, in 2019 she heeded a call from a friend already working in Saudi Arabia, to give the kadama life a chance. 

See, her live-in boyfriend and father to her three children including a set of beautiful twins, had just abandoned the family in a rented house and Namugenyi had found herself at close to zero. Through a licensed labour externalization company, her travel expenses were paid by her friend Asia Nakibengo, who gave her Shs 300,000 to cater for medical, clothes, and other requirements. 

Namugenyi deposited her children with her mother, who lives in Salaama, Munyonyo on the outskirts of Kampala, and joined those long queues of young women often frowned upon with pity at Entebbe international airport by other travellers, as she headed to the Arab world. 

But contrary to the harrowing stories from the Arab world, Namugenyi made the best of her not-so-ideal situation, set herself a target, and returned to Uganda in 2021 triumphant. Life in Saudi Arabia Jetting into Saudi Arabia on November 3, 2019, Namugenyi was excited about her new journey. 

When one has no more hope in one’s home country, it is normal to place all trust even in an unknown destination. On arrival, she was escorted to the office in Jeddah, where she was allocated to her new bosses, a family for whom she would henceforth be a housemaid. And indeed, it was a life no one would choose under normal circumstances, but she was determined to make it work. 

“We were living in an eight-bedroom house, but I had to carry my mattress every day from the bedroom to the pantry. Imagine I could not ever watch TV even when I had finished all my work. I was accustomed to sitting in the kitchen,” she told The Observer.

Narrating her ordeal, Namugenyi said at times she was denied healthcare, because her bosses chose to give her paracetamol instead of taking her to a health facility for a check-up.

“One day I had a toothache, but my bosses declined to take me to the dentist until I laid down my tools in protest and asked them to allow me to go back to the office and later exit the country.  The first day they thought I was joking. I locked myself in the room until they gave up and allowed me to visit the dentist and have the painful tooth extracted,” she said. 

Namugenyi said after traveling to Saudi Arabia, she went through immense psychological torture, considering that she was a mother who had just left her children behind. However, she had no time to feel sorry for herself; there was work to do and targets to meet.

“What I learned from Saudi Arabia is that it gave me a chance to meditate and think about what else I could do. That is why so many girls are always on and off the planes, thinking that Arab countries are the only sources of money, without thinking about long-term investment for the money they have literally sweated for.”

She was earning a monthly salary of Shs 900,000 (about $240), of which she religiously saved Shs 500,000 for investment and the rest would go towards paying school fees for her three children who were in boarding school. While in Saudi Arabia, Namugenyi opened up a Facebook account dubbed ‘Mitima Gyakaluba’ and later a WhatsApp group for fellow kadama, where they would share ideas and console each other about the difficulties they were going through at their places of work.

Some girls are physically and sexually assaulted at their places of work, but save for Namugenyi working like a donkey from sunrise to sunset, she did not experience physical abuse at the hands of her employers. Coming Home When she returned home on October 29, 2021 (she had promised herself not to exceed two years in Saudi Arabia), Namugenyi registered ‘Mitima Gyakaluba’ as an organization bringing together all former workers in Arab countries.

Members would save money and later invest it in chicken rearing, mushroom growing and other businesses. 

“I returned home with more than Shs 10m in savings. I bought a piece of land worth Shs 5m and used the balance to start a business.”

Due to the responsibilities and the amount of money left on her, she could not start a serious business. She ventured into selling charcoal in Nansana. The business was worth Shs 1.5m. She would sell charcoal alongside tomatoes and other items, but it was not a lucrative business.

She started to sell charcoal during the day and work as a waitress at Timeless bar in the evening.

“It was so hectic to work day and night. I became so exhausted that my body could not stand it anymore,” she said.

But she was determined to make it, and in 2022, Namugenyi even revisited her love for acting, securing roles in TV plays including Ntabadde, Kulabako, and Samanya, which were shown on Bukedde TV and Nyce TV. On social media, she had linked up with Godfrey Kimuli, commonly known as Taata Fibi, an actor with Bakayimbira Dramactors.

Then, Kimuli was also a marketer at one of the companies dealing in land and property. He introduced her to the company as a marketer where she sold tens of plots to many Ugandan girls in Arab countries, earning their trust. From a housemaid, she was now slowly transforming into an inspiring, enthusiastic and enterprising woman, who later even started her own company, Kimuli, Peace and Joel (KPJ) Dream Goal Consult Limited, with Kimuli and Joel Mubiru as shareholders.

It is a real estate company, through which Namugenyi buys and sells land, in addition to helping Ugandans in the diaspora – mainly Arab world – to construct homes or acquire real estate without fear of being cheated, because she has walked in their painful shoes. The company was registered in December 2022 with no capital, but they secured land on credit in Busunju – Vunamba, worth Shs 50 million.

To their surprise, they sold it all in one month with each plot going for Shs 2.5m, paying off their creditor and getting capital for expansion. In fact, The Observer interview took place at the KPJ offices in Kawempe, where Namugenyi had just finished speaking to her clients on TikTok.

She does this on a daily basis, before heading out to the field. Most of her clientele are housemaids in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and beyond.  In just one year, Namugenyi, who has since also found love and is busy preparing for her wedding, says the future looks bright and she does not regret her detour to Saudi Arabia. 

Who is Namugenyi?

Born to Regina Nansimbi and Frederick Kakooza Mutesagga in Masaka-Nkoni, Namugenyi is a mother of three.  She went to St Theresa Kisubi Girls primary School, St Joseph SS Nkoni-Masaka for O-level, Makindye Secondary School for A-level, and YMCA for a certificate in early childhood development.

She is currently pursuing a certificate in accounting and finance at Makerere Business Institute. Although her parents separated when she was an infant, Namugenyi credits her stepmother, Dorothy Nazziwa, who raised her and supported her dreams, contrary to harrowing stories some may have about their stepmothers.

After graduating, she was employed at First Steps Junior School Gayaza, then New Horizon Manyangwa and Naalya Parents Gayaza. Namugenyi, who was earning Shs 200,000 from teaching faced financial challenges; so, she would teach during the day, then give women manicures in the evening and vend clothes in the open markets to make ends meet.

When push came to shove, she threw in the towel and decided to take the hustle to Saudi Arabia, which, surprisingly, ended up being her turning point.  By GEOFREY SERUGO, The Observer