Former Jinja South Member of Parliament Paul Mwiru has announced plans to sue the government and Jinja Resident City Commissioner Richard Gulume, seeking more than Shs1 billion in compensation and damages after his annual Busoga One FM musical concert was halted two days before it was due to take place.
Speaking to journalists on Sunday at the Busoga One FM boardroom, Mwiru said he had fulfilled all legal requirements for the event and had received clearance from police, only to be surprised when a letter from the RCC advised that the show should not proceed.
“We wrote to the Inspector General of Police in August informing him of this annual musical show, and he cleared the December 7 event. But two days to the day, we received a letter from the RCC stopping it,” Mwiru said.
The former legislator said he has instructed his lawyers to take both the Attorney General and RCC Gulume to court, arguing that the decision was politically motivated and amounted to an abuse of authority.
He said more than Shs400 million had already been invested in preparations across several districts in Busoga since February, with the organisers expecting to earn more than Shs1 billion from the show, including corporate sponsorships.
Mwiru said the City Security Committee’s position went against earlier guidance from Minister of Internal Affairs Maj Gen (Rtd) Kahinda Otafiire, who he said had cleared the event.
He appealed to the Busoga Kingdom to condemn the decision, saying the concert offers informal employment to many residents, including women who had already bought perishable goods for sale at the venue.
He also rejected claims from security that Robert Kyagulanyi was expected to attend the event or that it was intended to raise money for the National Unity Platform.
“Though I subscribe to NUP, I know when to do business and when to do politics,” he said.
According to Mwiru, during a December 4 meeting with the City Security Committee, organisers were asked to explain the list of 38 scheduled performers and were told to remove artists such as King Saha, Mathias Walukaga and Ezzy D, who the committee claimed had songs critical of the government.
He said officials also questioned whether Kyagulanyi would appear, but organisers explained that he was on his northern Uganda campaign trail and expected to be in Gulu on the same day.
“Instead, we were advised to postpone the event until after the elections, which shocked us,” he said.
Mwiru, who is the NUP flagbearer for Jinja South, accused the City Security Committee of acting outside the law on several occasions.
He cited earlier directives requiring radio stations to remove presenters vying for political office, saying the station complied by taking off air Jinja City Mayor Peter Kasolo, John Odwor and Innocent Anyole.
When contacted, RCC Gulume said the decision was made by the City Security Committee rather than by him personally.
“We shall meet in court because I didn’t do it personally but rather a security committee, and we didn’t stop the event but advised that it be postponed to a later date after elections because we are busy with campaigns and could not provide security for the event,” Gulume said.
Mwiru insisted that the annual concert has never been used for political mobilisation and vowed to pursue legal action to prevent what he described as repeated abuses of authority.
The case is expected to fuel broader debate about the regulation of public events and the role of security officials during the election season.
