Uganda Parliament has banned the ‘Nyege Nyege festival’ electronic music festival affecting the morals of the children and hindering the advantage of tourism in the East African country.
The festival, in its previous editions, welcomed some 10,000 people, including foreign tourists and, was to be held for four days from September 15, in the town of Jinja (southeast).
The Parliament declared the ban via its Twitter account.
The Minister of Ethics and Integrity, Rose Lilly Akello, said “the festival “promotes immorality and we do not want this immorality in our country,”
However, Martin Mugaruran, the person in charge of tourism, opined that “the ban on the festival would have a negative impact on the economy, which is struggling to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
“More than 8,000 foreign tourists have already bought their tickets and were due to stay in the country during the festival and even afterwards. I hoped the authorities would reverse the decision”.
The festival was previously banned in 2018 by former Ethics Minister Simon Lokodo, a devout Catholic and notorious homophobe.
“We will not accept the loss of our morals, homosexuality will not be accepted,” he said, arguing that the festival “is close to devil worship and therefore unacceptable”.
The expression “Nyege Nyege” means an irresistible urge to dance in the Luganda language but can also have sexual connotations in other dialects of the region.
