GULU! Jose Chameleone, 25 singers in tears as Museveni brother Salim Saleh Sends Clear Message to them

Joseph Mayanja aka Jose Chameleone and 25 other singers who expected Shs9.4bn from President Yoweri Kaguta Tibuhaburwa Museveni’s younger brother Gen Caleb Akandwanaho aka Salim Saleh are in tears after the Operation Wealth Creation (OWC) chief Coordinator told them he would not give them money.

Under Jose Chameleone’s hastily formed United Music Superstars Association, some 25 musicians had travelled to the northern Uganda city of Gulu to beg for hundreds of millions. (See: Leaked Salim Saleh’s Gulu List of ‘Greedy’ Begging Super Stars)

Now, through OWC spokesperson Maj Kiconco Tabaro, Gen Salim Saleh has explained that the Gulu meeting was like any others he has held with people from other sectors in recent months.

“Gen Caleb Akandwanaho Salim Saleh (Rtd), Chief Coordinator of Operation Wealth Creation has been engaging with different stakeholders and actors from various sectors in the economy, amongst them, stakeholders in the Creative and Performing Arts industry to consult and explore ways in which OWC can be a vehicle for facilitating different kinds of support and other strategies to help the country deal with the harsh effects of the Coronavirus pandemic on the economy,” said Maj Tabaro.

“Most sectors have been affected by the pandemic, and the Creative and Performing Arts industry has not been spared. In fact, it has been one of the worst hit due to the nature in which it operates. As you are aware, the virus spread is primarily due to social contact, and artists and musicians have been unable to perform and hold concerts, coming to 2 years now. This has severely impacted their earning potential and has left many of them without alternative means to make ends meet as holding open shows was their primary source of income and revenue.”

The OWC publicist also revealed that Gen Saleh had sought to train the artistes and make them have the right attitude that would drive most players in the arts industry out of poverty.

“Operation Wealth Creation (OWC) in response to the crisis being faced by the country, as it has been doing with other sectors of the economy, has intervened by carrying out and providing mindset change educational trainings and workshops designed to empower artists, build capacity and equip them with the requisite skills to handle shocks that can impede their ability to earn a living in the future,” he explained.

“The Creative Arts industry is dominated by people who operate in an informal nature some of whom are very vulnerable to economic shocks not of their making. It is important to note that the industry also has a high multiplier effect for wealth and job creation plus social inclusion which are good vehicles for economic empowerment, national unity & harmony.”

He continued to reveal that the artistes were taught to diversify their sources of income as a way of surviving in certain times such as the current Covid19 pandemic.

“As such, OWC recognizes the potential of the sector for sustainable development and poverty alleviation which is one of the reasons it has taken initiative to coordinate under the stewardship of the Chief Coordinator who has been based in Gulu, Northern Uganda to organize and mainstream the industry in order to fully tap its potential for national development,” said Tabaro.

“During such engagements with the creatives which include but are not limited to music artists, alternative ways to earn a living and also to capitalize on their talents and large fan bases are shared, discussed and demonstrated.”

He further noted that the skills from the Gulu City workshops would help the artistes stop living hand-to-mouth, and to prepare for future crises.

“Most artists in Uganda belong in the informal sector that is subsistence in nature. In other words they live from hand to mouth on daily incomes they earn from their activities,” he explained.

“As an institution whose mandate and center of gravity is that demographic, we have found it appropriate that we engage our colleagues in the entertainment industry deal with this crisis we are all facing as a nation and also to forge ways to prevent such vulnerability in the future.”

Tabaro further dismissed reports that Gen Saleh had given Jose Chameleone and his colleagues money.

“OWC would like to state that any reports/comments being made that we have given funds to individual musicians or any people in the entertainment industry are false and diversionary and should be treated as such,” he said.

“We have not released any money as OWC and if we are to carry out any operations requiring resource mobilization and disbursement, we do so within a very clearly defined processes and protocols as spelt out In the Public Finance Management Act.”