Artists Big Size Bebe Cool, Dr Jose Chameleone and the other 24 proclaimed superstar Ugandan singers who expected 9.4bn Shs from the office of The Chairperson (OWC) Operation Wealth Creation Gen Caleb Akandwanaho commonly known as Gen Salim Saleh brother to President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni are in quandary after the Operation Wealth Creation chief Coordinator told them he would not give them money.
Through the Operation Wealthealth Creation spokesperson Maj Kiconco Tabaro, Gen Salim Saleh justified that the Gulu Superstar meeting was like any other meeting he has held with people from other sectors in recent months.
“Gen Salim Saleh (Rtd), Chief Coordinator of Operation Wealth Creation has been engaging with different stakeholders and actors from various sectors in the economy, amongst them, stakeholders in the Creative and Performing Arts industry to consult and explore ways in which The Operation Wealth Creation can be a vehicle for facilitating different kinds of support and other strategies to help the country deal with the harsh effects of the Coronavirus pandemic on the economy,” said Maj Tabaro.
He (Maj Tabaro OWC spokesperson) further revealed that "Most sectors have been affected by the pandemic, and the Creative and Performing Arts industry has not been spared. In fact, it has been one of the worst hit due to the nature in which it operates. As you are aware, the virus spread is primarily due to social contact, and artists and musicians have been unable to perform and hold concerts, coming to 2 years now. This has severely impacted their earning potential and has left many of them without alternative means to make ends meet as holding open shows was their primary source of income and revenue, Gen Saleh had sought to train the artistes and make them have the right attitude that would drive most players in the arts industry out of poverty".
"Operation Wealth Creation in response to the crisis being faced by the country, as it has been doing with other sectors of the economy, has intervened by carrying out and providing mindset change educational trainings and workshops designed to empower artists, build capacity and equip them with the requisite skills to handle shocks that can impede their ability to earn a living in the future,” he(Tabaro) explained.
"The Creative Arts industry is dominated by people who operate in an informal nature some of whom are very vulnerable to economic shocks not of their making. It is important to note that the industry also has a high multiplier effect for wealth and job creation plus social inclusion which are good vehicles for economic empowerment, national unity & harmony.”
The Superstars were taught to diversify their sources of income as a way of surviving in certain times such as the current Covid19 pandemic.
Tabaro (OWC spokesperson) added that "Operation Wealth Creation recognizes the potential of the sector for sustainable development and poverty alleviation which is one of the reasons it has taken initiative to coordinate under the stewardship of the Chief Coordinator who has been based in Gulu, Northern Uganda to organize and mainstream the industry in order to fully tap its potential for national development,” During such engagements with the creatives which include but are not limited to music artists, alternative ways to earn a living and also to capitalize on their talents and large fan bases are shared, discussed and demonstrated, Most artists in Uganda belong in the informal sector that is subsistence in nature. In other words they live from hand to mouth on daily incomes,"he said.
“As an institution whose mandate and center of gravity is that demographic, we have found it appropriate that we engage our colleagues in the entertainment industry deal with this crisis we are all facing as a nation and also to forge ways to prevent such vulnerability in the future.”
As the Spokesperson (OWC), I would like to state that any reports/comments being made that we have given funds to individual musicians or any people in the entertainment industry are false, diversionary and should be treated as such,” he added.
“We have not released any money as Operation Wealth Creation(OWC) and if we are to carry out any operations requiring resource mobilization and disbursement, we do so within a very clearly defined processes and protocols as spelt out In the Public Finance Management Act.” Explained Tabaro.
