The secretary to the treasury and permanent secretary, Ministry of Finance, Ramathan Ggoobi has revealed that the UG Connect concerts suffered a miscarriage because of a shortfall in resources. A brainchild of the Operation Wealth Creation (OWC), it was airing on local television stations starting Saturday, July 17, 2021 only to stall after six shows in August, raising questions on its sustainability. It should be noted that they had promised 54 e-concerts
According to Ggoobi, they are planning to invest more to support artistes until the ban on concerts is lifted.
“No longer airing because of resource constraint. Reason we are planning to give it a boost since they were not reopened. Very good initiative at supporting the artistes to survive until circumstances allow them to hold physical concerts again,” he explained.
This was after journalist Daniel Lutaaya asked him via Twitter what his plans are in his new capacity and what they tell the President about entertainers and their survival.
Ggoobi replied: “GoU is supporting artistes and others still in lock down. It paid promoters and supported musicians via E-concerts hosted by your TV (over sh11bn for both), and more of such concerts are on the way for 28 weeks worth over sh7.8bn. The overall goal is to give them a livelihood.”
Halima Namakula, one of the organisers, accused some industry stakeholders of frustrating the project. She argued that some artistes that were lined up were talked out of performing. She particularly stated that some were told Jose Chameleone received sh25m while his brothers Weasel and Pallaso, receoved sh15 million and sh10 million respectively. The concerts, happening on Saturdays were expected to go up to August 2022.
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