Mental health experts have warned that corporate bullying, emotional neglect, and a lack of intentionality in employee welfare are fuelling a mental health crisis in workplaces. Mental health is a state of wellbeing in which an individual realises their potential, copes with daily stresses, works productively, and contributes to their community. Across many offices, employees are silently battling anxiety, depression, and burnout. Experts say this suffering threatens individual wellbeing and organisational productivity.
The warning was issued during the East African Mental Health Summit 2025 in Kampala City, organised by Strong Minds last week. The gathering brought together policymakers, private sector leaders, civil society actors, and mental health advocates to explore ways of integrating mental health into social and economic planning. Speaking during a panel discussion themed ‘Corporate culture and employee wellness in the modern workplace,’ Ms Goldy Obama, a mental health consultant from the Federation of Uganda Employers (FUE), said social engagement and emotional connection in the workplace are crucial but often overlooked.
‘Intentionality or unintentionality, social engagements are real in the workplace. If you lost a spouse or got married and no one from your organisation showed up, it says something about the culture. It shows emotional disconnect and neglect,’ Ms Obama said. She further explained: ‘Bullying in the workplace exists, though many don’t name it. It could be humiliation in meetings, gossip, being excluded from decisions, or being micromanaged to the point of breaking down. These are silent forms of abuse that erode confidence.’ Ms Obama described corporate bullying as one of the most persistent but under-reported sources of psychological distress in Uganda’s professional spaces. She added that sexual harassment and toxic management styles remain rampant across many offices and often go unaddressed due to fear of retaliation.
‘When you spend eight hours at work but no one values your humanity, that takes a toll. Employee wellness is not charity. Investing in your people creates a healthier, more productive culture. Empathy should be part of your business strategy,’ she said. She urged leaders to pay attention to ‘organisational economics’, the systems that determine workload, job design, reporting lines, and relationships, arguing that poorly structured workplaces directly contribute to mental distress. ‘If your workspace is stressful by design, then you are not doing a very good job as a leader; you don’t need an app to tell you to be mindful. You just need to pause and listen to your thoughts,’ she said.
Also speaking at the panel, Mr Steven Odaro from the Market Vendors Association, said a key trigger of mental illness among street vendors is the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), which frequently hunts them. ‘A street vendor moves with his/her capital. Just imagine such a person when he runs into KCCA or sees uniformed people, stress levels rise, and they start running to hide, spending the whole day trying to avoid them,’ Mr Odaro said. As the East African Mental Health Summit concluded, experts called for stronger collaboration between the government, private sector, and civil society to prioritise mental wellness.
Ms Elizabeth Okello, president of the Uganda Counselling Association, said: ‘Self-care is not selfishness. It is how you show up, how you speak, how you manage your emotions, how you treat others. Emotional intelligence begins with being aware of your own triggers before judging others.’ She added: ‘We must stop treating mental health as a private matter. It’s a workplace issue, a leadership issue, and a national development issue. Every employer and parent has a role to play because behind every profit report is a human being and humans cannot thrive in neglect.’
14 MILLION
It is estimated that 14 million Ugandans, roughly 30 percent of the population, live with some form of mental disorder.