Pearl of Africa Hotel and the 500: In my opinion

Last week i read an article in one of Uganda's dailies about the Pearl of Africa Hotel firing 500 staff due to change in management and this got me wondering; Does the failure of the Pearl of Africa hotel aka Hilton hotel say anything about the poor laws governing investment industry and employment security in Uganda? Why did Aya group choose to hire the 500 people who are now living on tenterhooks following the acquisition of a new investor; Wyndham as reported in the media? How often will the management of the hotel have to change and affect Ugandans while the investment authority sits by and enjoys the “investment” partner privileges?

In a country that continues to be plagued by youth unemployment at 64% when the highest percentage of the population is below 30 years, there must be something the government can do to protect its own from such recurring issues.

People leave their well paying jobs for greener pastures in these “investor” companies with hope for a better life for themselves and their loved ones only for these companies to end up closing shop, ,take for example Vodafone and Smart Telecom, to mention but a few.

The firing of the 500 employees will definitely result in the suffering of over thousands of hardworking citizens i.e. dependents and the staff themselves.

For instance, can the government, together with the investment authority, ensure that all investors are vetted to the dot especially in regard to financial plans for the projects they seek? Or can the government or general public purchase shares in these investor businesses and leave the management of a private entity?

There is a need for more stringent laws in the investment sector for the purpose of protecting the citizens who are willing to work but continue to be taken advantage of. There should be an inquiry into why this particular hotel project continues to fail its management. Could it be that Uganda does not have enough A Class citizens to satisfy the hotel’s pricing demands? How can we turn it into a tourism destination? How have other countries like Rwanda managed to get similar projects off the ground, stable and profitable? Perhaps the best thing to do is get all past investors to sit on a round-table and share insights into why this hotel continues to fail us or better still, what investors can do given our economic landscape.