KAMPALA-Trouble is brewing for a giant Indian firm with local interests in the Republic of Uganda, after its illegally imported and tortured employee died mysteriously. According to a press release from the lawyer of the widow of Ji Zong Wu, who died on September 11, 2021, Mahathi Infra which has interests in the petroleum business operates a subsidiary in Uganda which has been employing Chinese nationals. The press release reads as follows:
PRESS RELEASE
JUSTICE FOR JI ZONG WU
Kampala, 27 October 2021
We draw attention to the death by exploitation and human sacrifice of Mr Ji Zong Wu, formerly an employee of Mahathi Infra Uganda Limited, the local branch of Mahathi Infra India.
These firms are the owners and lead promoters of Mahathi Fuel Transport and Storage Depot project, which is in Bugiri-Bukasa Village, near Kawuku in Entebbe, Wakiso district.
Ji Zong Wu (51) was an ordinary wood-cutting machine mechanic in Jilin Province, China until 19 March 2020 when he was trafficked into the country by traffickers disguising him as a tourist visiting Uganda for one month.
After entering Uganda, he was received by Mahathi Infra Uganda Limited, a company that subjected him to all manner of violations including but not limited to confiscation of his passport, overstaying his visa, forced and illegal employment, and finally death due to the company’s outrageous negligence.
A naive simple machine fixer, and a man never trained for hazardous work on a shipyard, Ji Zong Wu was forced to do welding and metal-grinding work in a crowded and poorly ventilated environment for many hours a day for almost 18 months with no labour contract, no rights, meager pay, no health insurance, no work permit, no alien registration card, delayed pay and no sick leaves.
From our investigations, his traffickers were highly connected to a few rogue elements in the government — an advantage the traffickers used to disadvantage, threaten and intimidate all those who appeared to raise voices over the poor working conditions.
Its for this reason that Mr. Ji Zong Wu was submissive to the Mahathi’s oppression to the point of death!
His case is illegal because Mahathi Infra brought him in to work without work permits and until his death, this fact was hidden from the relevant authorizes in Uganda.
His widow Wang Yong Yie, aged 51, trekked the long journey from China supported by friends who financed her travel, to seek for justice for her husband whose life has been cut short by negligence by the company.
With no remorse for the death of Ji Zong Wu, Mahathi Infra has further refused to compensate his widow for the loss of her husband, the bread winner for the surviving dependents.
These dependents are Wang Yong Yie, the deceased’s 80 year old mother, and an 18 year old daughter.
The events surrounding Ji Zong Wu have a wide range of ramifications.
Mr Ji Zong Wu, was recruited by Mahathi Infra early last year under false pretences from Jilin Province, Yanji City, China.
He passed away in the hands of Mahathi Infra on 11 September 2021 under unclear circumstances.
Subsequently Mahathi Infra exerted undue influence and a campaign of misinformation and/or disinformation on the clearly distressed, illiterate, grief-stricken, feeble and vulnerable widow of
Ji Zong Wu to abandon the path of justice and “simply return to China” — because this company is apparently a consortium of untouchables!
Our findings are that Mr Ji Zong Wu was initially suspected of having contracted a disease that would have alarmed Ugandans (gangrene), although the physicians at IHK eventually ruled this out.
For that reason, his illness was concealed and he was neglected because the company did not want to publicize his condition knowing its consequences on the health of Ugandans.
The employees operate in horrendous conditions. The company does not comply with labour laws, and local content rules and regulations.
They bring in foreign labour without work permits and they detain their passports without informing their families.
They do not give them sufficient income and do not pay National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and PAYE dues for these workers.
Majority of the workers of this company are Chinese and Indians which means that they are denying Ugandans the chance to do even menial work.
For example many migrant workers at the Mahathi site are dishwashers, cleaners and drivers of pickups, etc, which is something Ugandans can do.
The company is also engaging in International Human Trafficking, forced labour, and servitude.
According to Migration DataPortal, Human Trafficking is growing leaps and bounds across the world. In 2020, there were 108,613 individual cases of human trafficking, from 164 countries of exploitation and involving 17 nationalities.
The Official of National Statistics (UK) (2020) notes that there were 5,144 modern slavery offences recorded by the police in England and Wales in the year ending March 2019, an increase of 51% from the previous year.
Although Uganda doesn’t collect reliable statistics, it is clear from the above statistics that Human Trafficking is a serious matter that needs to be prevented throughout the world.
When migrant workers fall sick, their employers circumvent Ministry of Health, thereby creating potential danger for Ugandans if an epidemic breaks out from their operational site.
HUMAN SACRIFICE ALLEGATIONS
Mahathi’s deliberate actions such as delaying treatment of Mr. Ji , denying him optimum and adequate treament, failure to repatriate him to China where he could get optimum treatment and care, concealing the sickness of Mr Ji from his family until only 84 hours before his death perfectly sync with allegations that some foreign construction companies in Uganda are deeply involved in human sacrifice for the success of their projects.
We therefore call upon the government of Uganda to quickly investigate into this matter and bring the culprits of this barbaric act to book as soon as possible.
We also call upon the government of China to step in and fight for the justice of their citizen, Mr. Ji.
We are also concerned that the malaise at this company and its operations has dragged the name of His Royal Highness Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II, the Kabaka of Buganda into an image crisis.
We demand that Kabaka’s name is removed from HMV Kabaka Mutebi, the ship that is built by this company which seeks to manipulate the name of the Kabaka.
We are astounded by the fact that the Katikkiro of Buganda did not do enough due diligence on the company which would have otherwise averted this dilemma.
We hold the Chairperson of this company, Captain Mike Mukula to account for these problems. He has a case to answer.
We urge the US government, the United Nations, International Labor Organization (ILO) and other international organizations to blacklist this company for these acts of human trafficking in Uganda.
References
MigrationDataPortal. (2020). Human Trafficking. https://www.migrationdataportal.org/themes/human-trafficking
Office of National Statistics. (2020). Modern slavery in the UK: March 2020. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/modernslaveryintheuk/march2020
Source: Adv Isaac Ssemakadde, Centre for Legal Aid
END OF PRESS RELEASE
The incident has threatened to not only jeopardise Mahathi Infra’s interests in Uganda, it has also has ramifications on Sino-Indo relations. The death of a Chinese national in the hands of an Indian firm could spark a diplomatic row.
