Govt reviewing Nyege Nyege festival - Lokodo

State minister for Ethics and Integrity, Rev Fr. Simon Lokodo, says a technical team from his office is compiling a report detailing what transpired at the just concluded Nyege Nyege festival. 

The highly publicised festival took place at the Nile Discovery Resort beach in Njeru municipality in Buikwe district between Friday and Sunday last week.

The festival brought together revellers from different parts of the world. Lokodo had initially banned the festival, saying it promotes sexual immorality and compromises the country's national values and integrity. However, cabinet okayed the festival and issued guidelines to Talent Africa, which organised the festival.
 
These included among others; providing police unfettered access to the venue, registration of revelers both by the police and organisers, screening of participants, denying access to minors, banning of processions to and from the venue.

 

A traditional dancer entertains revellers at this year's Nyege Nyege festival 

 

Now, Lokodo says his technical committee is reviewing the festival and will report back by end of this week. He says the future of the festival is dependent on the committee's findings.

 

"My team is still compiling the reports and soon they will come to me. You know that we had raised eleven conditions which the organisers were supposed to abide by. In the event that any of those conditions were not met and fulfilled, it's going to tantamount to not anymore allowing that activity to take place come next year. By end of this week, we would have known. Then we shall meet and and get all the data that the investigations team has collected. And on that basis we shall determine the fate and future of Nyege Nyege festival." said Lokodo. 

 

Revellers having a good time at the festival

Before the festival was called off, its proponents had advanced the business angle argument - ranging from tourists snapping up hotel rooms and private homes, market for local food and crafts. But Lokodo argues that government cannot forego cultural and moral values at the expense of making money.

 

"It is good we make money, but at the same time we don't like to destroy our culture, our lives. You send people there for three days to do nothing else but to drink, dance, eat and merry-make; call it best - to have open and free sex. Then you contract diseases and you end up coming out of that event sick, or, if you're lucky you become pregnant but the pregnancy will not be holding a parent because you got it in a game. So those are damages. And even the fact that you just go there to burn your nerves, engage in drug abuse, those are negative things that cannot be allowed." he added. 

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