Former UMA President Sophie Gombya Hits Out at Government Over New Artistes’ Regulations
23 July 2020
[Source/musicinafrica.net]
By Gloria
Former Uganda Musicians Association President Sophie Gombya has spoken out on the new rules and regulations that were passed by the government.
According to the laws, all artistes must get a license to perform, and another separate license to enable them release songs.
Musicians are also expected to pay the government some money before they can perform on any stage in the country.
Reacting to the new regulations, Sophie noted that Parliament shouldn’t have passed the laws as they will negatively affect the Ugandan music industry.
"I'm saying no to the regulations. They came up but it's like there is a big crime we committed as an industry because they are aimed at destroying us," she said.
According to Sophie, it is not bad to have regulations as they are good for any growing industry; however, the relevant authorities ought to have consulted before passing the said laws.
"You do not know the pain we go through to put food on our tables, so you just can't come up with these just because you want to collect money from us. We have cried out about doing our music and not earning from it. Other people take our work, we do not have the market. We are all self-made without any government intervention.
"What we need is us to be engaged and be part of the meetings to tell them what's up. The constitution gives me a right to freely express myself but they are taking it away," she opined.
Sophie divulged that she is working with other artistes to petition Parliament regarding the new laws.
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