Government officials and organizers of the Nyege Nyege festival pose for a photo after a meeting in Kampala. PHOTO/COURTESY
Last year, Parliament Speaker Anita Among and some Members of Parliament (MPs) almost blocked Nyege Nyege.
It took the intervention of Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja to have the event carry on, ending up successful.
To prevent standoffs at this year’s event, a joint planning meeting between the government and the private sector was held a few days ago at the Directorate of Ethics and Integrity ahead of the 8th edition of the annual festival due November 9–12 in Jinja City.
The meeting was chaired by ethics and integrity state minister Rose Lilly Akello- and attended by representatives from Nyege Nyege, Talent Africa, Busoga Kingdom, Uganda Police, the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance and Uganda Breweries Limited who are the festival’s main sponsor.
Sources who attended the meeting told Sqoop that several other issues were tackled during the gathering in Kampala.
Further, stakeholders conducted a review of last year’s festival, covering areas such as security and ethical concerns, before discussing plans to improve this year’s edition.
The source added that the stakeholders formed a “National Organizing Committee” for the festival which will have its first meeting next week to co-organise, amplify and increase the scale of the festival’s already existing positive socio-economic impact on Ugandans.
Nyege Nyege attracts thousands of Ugandans and foreigners to the shores of the River Nile every in what is now viewed as a marketing tool and travel destination.
According to the organisers, the festival attracted approximately 13,000 attendees in 2019 with 4,000 coming from outside Uganda while last year, approximately 15,000 people partied at the event with 10,000 Ugandans, 3,000 Kenyans and 2,000 international guests.
