Moses Awas (Gwills) said Karamoja artists are often underrated and exploited by politicians for political mileage. “I’m really disappointed. You can’t expect a serious artist to perform for Shs 200,000,” Awas said.
Several local artists in the Karamoja sub-region boycotted the Karamoja Youth Wake Up Rally held in Moroto Municipality on Friday, protesting what they termed as "unfair payments and exploitation."
The rally, organized by the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development under the theme “Breaking Barriers, Building Prosperity”, aimed to mobilize youth through lectures, community dialogues, and entertainment.
It also featured evaluations of government youth programmes like the Parish Development Model, EMYOOGA, and a community Baraza.
Balaam Barugahara, the State Minister for Youth and Children's Affairs, was the guest of honour.
However, many of the planned activities failed to take place, with only entertainment and a feast proceeding, albeit disrupted by a standoff with artists.
The artists expressed dissatisfaction with the Shs 200,000 token offered for their performances, calling it demeaning and exploitative.
Zachues Nangiro, alias Enzehd, said the offer was an insult to their craft and signaled deep disrespect from government agencies.
“We have woken up, as the theme says. We shall no longer accept any form of exploitation,” Nangiro said.
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He recalled that during a past peace concert, artists were given only Shs 10 million to share among 200 members, leading to commotion and enmity.
Nangiro also criticized the organizers for limiting mobilization to Moroto District, saying the rally failed to represent the entire Karamoja region.
Julius Lemukol, known as Shongz, said they initially welcomed the Baraza initiative but were disillusioned when it turned into a formality for fulfilling accountability obligations.
“Paying us Shs 200,000 for a performance is a mockery. Government is undermining local artists who are key in community sensitization,” he said.
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Moses Awas (Gwills) said Karamoja artists are often underrated and exploited by politicians for political mileage. “I’m really disappointed. You can’t expect a serious artist to perform for Shs 200,000,” Awas said.
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Raphael Nyanga, alias Art Angel Tyma, also expressed frustration over the continued exploitation of Karamoja’s creatives. “We were told the budget was cut because we are local artists. But we’ve sung about peace, health, education—yet the government continues to ignore our contributions,” Nyanga said.
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James Muya, a music promoter, criticized the organizers for sidelining local service providers.
“They transported sound equipment all the way from Kampala while sidelining local DJs and MCs. How do we grow the industry here?”
Boniface Angura, also known as MC Bonz, said government appreciation for the entertainment industry in Karamoja is non-existent and called for targeted programmes for artists.
Meanwhile, Emmy Markson Aleper (Evy Treyz), the chairperson of the Karamoja Musicians Association and a key mobilizer for the event, defended the budget allocation.
“We were instructed to invite only 20 top artists. The total artist budget was Shs 3 million to cater for singers, traditional dancers, DJs, and MCs,” Aleper said.
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He explained that attempts were made to give five artists Shs 500,000 each, but pressure from other artists to be included forced them to spread the limited funds, reducing payments to Shs 200,000—a move that sparked the boycott.
