KAMPALA CAPITAL CITY AUTHORITY ANNOUNCES CANCELLATION OF FESTIVAL
(Posted 18th September 2018)
Unless there is a change of heart – not entirely unprecedented in recent times as the Jinja based Nyege Nyege festival was also cancelled and then reinstated – will revellers this year miss out on a grand weekend fete in Kampala. KCCA, the Kampala Capital City Authority, has cancelled the festival which in recent years had grown in leaps and bounds, leaving traders who booked spaces and sponsors in a lurch, the latter likely jumping ship and keeping their contributions towards the festival’s organization and prizes under lock and key.
Since the festival’s launch in 2012 has the event drawn in more and more visitors from the region into the city, boosting hotel occupancies and having restaurants and other places of interest benefit from the large number of visitors.
With no compelling reasons given by KCCA as to what prompted the cancellation are companies involved and benefitting from the festival now left to count their losses.
This development comes hot on the heels of the Ugandan government axing the Uganda Tourism Board and relocating its functions to the line ministry, two and a half blows to the effort to promote the country – the half being the off / on Nyege Nyege saga – as one of Africa’s greatest adventure tourism destinations.
Commentators were particularly irritated about the very short notice of the cancellation less than a month to the event and speculation was rife over the real reasons for the sudden decision.
KCCA has not made any firm commitments at this stage whether the festival might be revived at a future stage.
