Thursday March 27, 2025
Jacinta Kaahwa, a Ugandan finance officer formerly employed in Somalia by UK-based SafeLane Global, is pursuing a $15 million lawsuit against the company for alleged unlawful dismissal, racial discrimination, and abandonment in a conflict zone. (CREDIT: The Observer [UG])
Mogadishu (HOL) — A Ugandan finance officer who worked for a British security firm in Somalia is seeking $15 million in damages, accusing the company of unlawful dismissal, racial discrimination, and abandoning her in a conflict zone after she survived a terrorist attack.
Jacinta Kaahwa, 42, says she spent six years working for SafeLane Global in Mogadishu before being abruptly dismissed in 2022—months after surviving an Al-Shabaab bombing near her workplace. The attack left her with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, for which she says the company offered no support despite contractual obligations for mental health care and risk compensation.
SafeLane, headquartered in the United Kingdom, has denied any formal employment relationship with Kaahwa, claiming she was recruited through a subcontractor, ClearTech. But Kaahwa insists her hiring, salary, and correspondence were handled directly by SafeLane. Legal documents reviewed by her lawyer suggest that her contract and deployment originated from SafeLane Global Uganda and SafeLane Global Somalia—both subsidiaries of the UK-based IGNE Group Ltd.“It’s a clear case of modern-day slavery,” said Advocate Junaid Egale, Kaahwa’s lead counsel from Unite Law Chambers in Mogadishu. “She was recruited in Uganda, deployed to Somalia, and discarded without support.”
Somalia’s Dispute Resolution Committee, the Banadir Regional Court, and the Supreme Court all ruled in Kaahwa’s favour, ordering her reinstatement and compensation for withheld wages, breach of contract, and insurance violations. However, the rulings remain unenforced, and her legal team accuses SafeLane of using “backdoor lobbying” to sidestep compliance.
The fallout has rippled beyond Somalia’s borders. Kaahwa’s case has reached the Ugandan Parliament and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gaining the attention of international actors, including the United Nations Mine Action Service, the Federation of Somali Trade Unions, and the UN Human Rights Division.
In December 2024, Kaahwa filed a complaint through the UN Human Rights Commission’s online portal, tagging multiple working groups. “It was during Christmas, so responses were delayed,” she said. “But I’m still pursuing it.”
At the heart of the case is a broader conversation about labour rights and the treatment of African professionals working for Western contractors in high-risk zones. Kaahwa says she was replaced by a white South African, Rodney Venter, who was paid three times her daily wage. She added that her request for a salary raise in July 2022 was denied, with the company citing budget cuts.
Stranded in Mogadishu without support and fearing threats from both known and unknown actors—including figures tied to Somali politics—Kaahwa sought refuge at the Ugandan embassy, where she remained for months.
She has since returned to Uganda but continues to pursue justice abroad. Her legal team has now filed proceedings in the United Kingdom against IGNE Group Ltd., SafeLane’s parent company, in what could become a landmark case for foreign labour rights in conflict zones.
“It’s been three years of fighting,” she said. “But I still believe justice will come.”
