Talk. Bobi Wine (left) addresses the media to announce his concert at Busabala on Easter Monday as fellow musicians Nubian Lee and promoter Abby Musinguzi look on yesterday in Kamwokya, Kampala. PHOTO BY MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI
Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, has said he will go ahead to hold his Easter music shows even if police have not responded to his notification he sent to them more than a month ago.
Mr Kyagulanyi said he notified police in time to deny them the legroom to have excuses of not being notified as it has been the norm on several occasions when they blocked his shows.
“I hope the whole world is following. We notified police about six weeks ago and they are pretending to come out to say we did not write to them in time. We shall hold that concert with or without their reply,” he said.
Police did not come clean on whether they had received Bobi’s letter of notification or not as the deputy police spokesperson, Ms Polly Namaye, referred us to Kampala Metropolitan Police to comment on the matter.
“This matter should be handled by the police spokesperson,” she said.
Mr Patrick Onyango, the spokesperson for Kampala Metropolitan Region, said: “If they have referred you to us, let me check if there is a letter to that effect?”
According to schedule, Bobi Wine is expected to hold his concerts at One Love Beach in Busabala in Wakiso District on Easter Monday.
He will then perform in Lira on May 3, Arua on May 4 and Gulu on May 5.
Many times in the past, Police have banned or blocked Bobi Wine’s concerts claiming he has not notified them in writing or had informed them late and they had not authorised the shows.
Last year, police accused Bobi Wine of failing to notify them in time and closed his show on Boxing Day at the last minute.
The same show had been previously blocked at Mandela National Stadium with claims the stadium had been earlier booked for a wedding function.
In 2018, Bobi Wine’s show that was meant to take place in Bukoto in Kampala was also blocked at the last moment.
Meanwhile, yesterday, event organisers and promoters met President Museveni at State House in Entebbe to be compensated for the losses incurred in the previous events which were cancelled.
The promoters had earlier appealed to President Museveni, who later promised them Shs1 billion but they have only received Shs200m.
The law
Act. Section 5 of the Public Order Management Act says: “An organiser shall give notice in writing signed by the organiser or his or her agent to the authority officer of the intention to hold a public meeting, at least three days but not more than 15 days before the proposed date of the public meeting.”
It’s reinforced by Section 6 which states: “Upon receipt of a notice under section 5, where it is not possible to hold the proposed public meeting for some reasons; the authority shall, in writing within 48 hours after receipt of the notification, notify the organiser or his or her agent that it is not possible to hold the proposed public meeting and the notice shall be delivered to the organiser’s address as the notice of intention to hold a public address.”
