Parliament has blocked the ‘Nyege Nyege festival’, an annual social event scheduled to take place next week in Jinja over allegations of sexual immorality.
During a plenary sitting on Tuesday afternoon, Speaker Anitah Among said they are not going to allow this function to take place for the morality of this country.
“We are talking about morality of this country; we are talking about our children. You are trying to promote tourism at the expense of our children? We are not going to allow this function to take part,” the Speaker said.
Tororo Woman MP Sarah Opendi said the event is a breeding ground for sexual immorality.
Efforts by the Minister of State for Tourism, Martin Mugarra to defend the event as a hub of tourism met resistance from the House. Mugarra said over 8,000 foreigner tourists have already booked tickets for the event.
This year’s event was to be held on the Nile River’s banks at Itanda Falls from September 15th to 18th.
The Nyege Nyege Festival happens once a year in Uganda. Since 2015 it has fulfilled its mission of supporting emerging and alternative scenes from across East Africa and beyond, promoting music, culture, art and tourism.
