The parliament of Uganda has stopped the annual social event well known as Nyege Nyege Festival which was scheduled to take place from the 15th to the 18th of September 2022 at Itanda falls Jinja. According to Sarah Opendi the Tooro woman MP; “the event is a breeding ground for sexual immolarity”
The speaker of parliament Anitah Among was quoted saying; “we are talking about the 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 place.”
The state minister for ethics Rose Lilly Akello also shared the reason for stopping the Nyege Nyege festival saying; “Nyege Nyege is an event that promotes immorality which is not wanted in our country”
In objection to the ban of the Nyege Nyege festival 2022, the state minister for tourism Martin Mugarra said “Nyege Nyege” is a hub for tourism where over 8,000 foreign tourists had already booked tickets for the event that was to take place in Jinja however regardless of his submission, parliament insisted that the event is immoral.
It is not the first time that Nyege Nyege festival has received similar objections and bans. During the time of the late Father Lukodo as the minister of Ethics, the same event came into scrutiny. However, after a number of stakeholders’ meetings, the event was permitted to take place.
Even though the parliament has made its ground clear objecting to the Nyege Nyege festival 2022, it is most likely that they will again have a common ground to allow the event to take place.