Government officials together with Nyege Nyege organisers pose for a photo after the meeting about the festival. Photo / Courtesy
Last year, the Speaker of Parliament Hon Anita Among along with other Members of Parliament almost blocked Nyege Nyege from happening. It took the intervention of the Prime Minister to have the event going which ended up being a success.
To prevent further interventions this year, 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 Nyege Nyege festival that is happening from November 9-12 in Jinja City.
The meeting chaired by the Minister of State for Ethics and Integrity, Hon. Rose Lilly Akello and attended by representatives from Uganda Breweries Limited – the festival’s main sponsor, Nyege Nyege, Talent Africa, Busoga Kingdom, Uganda Police, the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance and others tackled a number of issues.
According to a source in attendance, the 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 of the festival.
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 year marketing the country as a party and hospitality destination while exposing tourists to many of the other travel destinations available in the country.
According to the organisers, in 2019, the festival attracted approximately 13,000 attendees – with 4,000 coming from outside Uganda while last year, approximately 15,000 people attended the festival with 10,000 Ugandans, 3,000 Kenyans and 2,000 international guests.
