A pioneer in Ugandan music promotion.

By Elvis BasuddeIn the space of just a few years, Ugandans have been able to see some of the most celebrated international musicians live in their own land. This was impossible in the previous decades because we did not have music promoters then. Tamukati Ndogala was very much in the forefront in promoting and selling live music here. But he has since quietly disappeared. Nobody knows what he is up to and where he is at present. However, those who thought that Tamukati’s disappearance might cripple the music promoting business can now relax. We now how a successor.Abbey Musinguzi of Abtex Production has established himself as a household name in Uganda as far as promoting and selling live music is concerned. He needs no introduction for those who have been involved in show business. For the last six years he has organised and promoted a number of successful shows.Abbey has no false modesty when he starts talking about his career.“It was me, with Paul Mungu, who first used a plane with a big banner in Masaka to advertise shows.“That was in 1996 when I started professional music promotion business,” said the 30-year-old, 1.6m-tall promoter.He started by organising and promoting shows for various artists, starting with Mulindwa Muwonge with his Nalubale Theatre Stars group.He organised Mulindwa’s play Minzani at Masaka Cinema Hall, where one show attracted a full house. Abbey has since been on the threshold of an exciting career of promoting entertainers: “I organised so many successful shows that thereafter performers started approaching me to promote them. I obliged gladly and I have never stopped since,” he recalls. He boasts of a number of shows including Paul Kafeero’s Omwana w’Omuzungu at Lugazi, Afrigo’s Obangaina concert at Victoria Nile Jinja & Iganga, the uglies contest, giant John Ofwono’s Ani Asinga ‘Concert at Nambole among others.Ends