Bobi Wine ignored Police directive on Kyarenga Concert - Govt

The Principal State Attorney, Josephine Kiyingi has told the court that Kyadondo East MP Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine concerts were blocked after his promoters defied Police directives.

She made the submissions on Thursday before the Civil Division of the High Court judge, Lydia Mugambe while citing an affidavit sworn by the Police Director of Operations, AIGP Asuman Mugenyi.

Kiyingi argued that music promoters, Abby Musinguzi and Andrew Mukasa were given guidelines to follow for the concert but they mistook them as clearances.

Musinguzi is the proprietor of Abtex Productions while Mukasa is the managing director of Bajjo Events and Marketing Agency Ltd.

In May, this year, the two music promoters petitioned the court, seeking orders restraining police from blocking their concerts. The duo sued the Inspector General of Police, Martin Okoth Ochola, and the Attorney General William Byaruhanga through Lukwago & Company Advocates

However, Mugenyi states the promoters were required by Police to avail information about the concerts and that they were informed that in case of breach of the directive, police will stop the shows any time. This information was contained in a letter dated April 15, 2019,

"It is evident from the promoters pleadings that they failed to comply with all the directives set out by police and as a result, their shows were stopped," he states.

He added, "The promoters application is fundamentally defective, incompetent, an abuse of court process, overtaken by events and ought to be dismissed with cost".

Mugenyi says Police through his agents exercised their mandate as enshrined in the Police Act because they had reasonable cause to believe the arrest of the promoters was necessary to prevent them from committing an offence.

He says the promoters have failed to show that Police decision or act was tainted with illegality.

Suit

The promoters claim the indefinite suspension of concerts involving Bobi Wine has not only caused them irreparable loss but is also illegal and amounts to an abuse of power.

They claim that on April 19, the Police without justifiable reasons indefinitely suspended their Kyarenga Extra concerts despite fulfilling all the requirements imposed on them.

According to Musinguzi, they were required to produce clearance to use the intended venues, a detailed program for each activity, ambulance facilities and a list of performers at each venue which they allegedly fulfilled on time but the Police went ahead to stop their concerts.

They contend that the Police directive on the concerts was made in violation of their right to a fair hearing guaranteed under the Constitution.

They want the court to issue an order compelling the Police to provide security at their concerts instead of blocking them.

The duo says they entered into an agreement with Bobi Wine to perform at his concerts at a cost of sh230m and made an advanced non-refundable payment to him but couldn't hold the concerts due to the Police's impugned directives.

"On March 25, 2019, we wrote to the IGP requesting for security at the said concerts as required under the law. The IGP wrote back to us setting out conditions we should fulfil before our concerts could be cleared. We fulfilled the conditions but we were upset when on April 19 he directed us to immediately suspend them without advancing any reason to that effect," Musinguzi contends.

They also want the court to declare that their arrest and detention by the Police without an allegedly genuine cause at Busabala Beach on April 22, 2019, amounted to the violation of their right to carry out business contrary to Articles 20, 23 and 40 of the Constitution.