Nyege Nyege music festival cancelled
The famous annual Nyege Nyege music festival scheduled to take place in Jinja, east of the capital of Kampala, Uganda has been cancelled by the Ugandan parliament.
The seventh edition of the festival was scheduled to take place next week from September 15 to 18 on the banks of the Nile in Southern Uganda at Handa Falls.
Speaker of the House, Anita Among said they are not going to allow this function to take place to safeguard the morality of the country.
“We are talking about our children. You are trying to promote tourism at the expense of our children? We are not going to allow this function to take place,” she declared.
Uganda’s Tororo woman MP Hon Sarah Opendi, termed the event as a breeding ground for sexual immorality.
According to the festival’s organisers, their event focuses on electronic music scenes across Africa as well as sounds from the global diaspora and others.
Minister of State for Tourism Hon Martin Mugarra noted that the event is a hub of tourism as over 8,000 foreign tourists had already booked tickets for the event.
The event’s current venue is five times larger than the previous location.
Additionally, a luxury camping area, Nyegeville, was to feature, with lodges, hot showers, yoga classes, and a private beach.
This is not the first time the event has been cancelled on grounds that the event encourages sexual immorality.
In 2018, the deceased former Ethics Minister, Father Simon Lokodo, requested that the event be cancelled claiming that it promoted homosexuality and moral decadence.
In 2020, the festival hosted a 96-hour digital festival due to the postponement of the pandemic.
The event was to feature total of 300 artists including MC Yallah, Otim Alpha, Kampire, Phatstoki, MC Aunty Rayzor and DJ Travella who were to play across seven stages.
Artists from Europe and elsewhere were to feature in the event, including Juliana Huxtable, DJ Marcelle, Zoë McPherson, DJ Paypal, Low Jack, and French party collective Maraboutage.
Roosevelt, a legendary Cameroonian musician, was also scheduled to perform with a 15-piece band to mark his 80th birthday.
