A Bobi Wine Boxing Day concert that was supposed to take place at the One Love Beach in Busabala has been stopped and the area sealed by the Ugandan Police. Emilian Kayima, police spokesperson had earlier announced the ban.
“The situation at One Love Beach is tense. It has been turned into a war zone. As if the raid last night wasn't enough, this morning they blocked the roads leading to the Beach and announced that our #Boxing_Day show is off,” Bobi posted on Facebook.
It should be noted that the artiste who also doubles as a Ugandan legislator, has been a great critic of the government of Yuweri Museveni since he entered parliament in 2017.
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According to a police commander, Rashid Agero, he has been ordered by his superiors to stop the concert because the organizers are yet to seek police clearance. On the contrary, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine) in a Facebook post said the concert had been duly cleared by the Gbaba beach police.
“Earlier today, a Christmas music show that had been cleared by the police at Ggaba beach was immediately disrupted and blocked by soldiers and police the moment they learnt that I was one of the artistes going to perform”, said Bobi.
The artiste’s One Love Beach that was to host the concert was surrounded by military and guests have been sent away. In the post, he made it known that the military “have ordered the stage and sound engineers to bring down the stage and pull down all materials we had put in place for the show.”
Bobi also claimed some of his employees and those who were preparing to sell merchandise around the One Love Beach show ground have been arrested.
This is coming after the legislator petitioned parliament last week over the continued ban on his concerts by the government. “They are doing this despite Parliament's resolution last week declaring that blocking my shows is unconstitutional, has no basis in law, and should be stopped forthwith”, he wrote.
On December 15, a show that was to take place at Jinja was again disrupted by police even after the Ugandan star said earlier that day on social media that it had been cleared by the police. However, later that day, police called to inform event organizers that all other artistes have been cleared except Bobi Wine.
The police invaded the City Hotel in Jinja town where the event was to take place and arrested Bobi’s team members while he updated the public on his Facebook Page in hiding.
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“So police has raided City Hotel in Jinja town where we were resting ahead of the show tonight. They arrested many of our team members. As we speak, the police is surrounding the entire neighborhood looking for me everywhere!”
“The police has ordered my team out of Jinja town on gun-point, and escorted them up to Lugazi. They have beaten some of them, dragged them onto police pick-up cars and driven them to unknown destinations for no offence whatsoever,“ he wrote.
“Meanwhile, I am still in Jinja town. The police are looking for me everywhere. They have even blocked some roads in search for me,” he continued.
Known by his stage name Bobi Wine, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu is an entrepreneur, businessman, musician, actor, philanthropist and a politician. Since July 11, 2017, he has been serving as the member of parliament for the Kyaddondo East constituency in Wakiso District. On August 14, 2018, his supporters allegedly obstructed and attacked the president’s convoy in Arua. He was later arrested on August 15 for incitement of violence and unlawful possession of firearms. On the day of his release, the government banned his supporters from gathering.
By Penn Tencha with contributions from Lobga Derick Sullivan
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