KAMPALA – Operation Wealth Creation (OWC) has distanced itself from allegations of giving cash handouts to artistes.
This comes after reports that have been making rounds on social media alleging that OWC has been giving out funds to certain artistes and musicians in the entertainment sector.
Maj Kiconco Tabaro, the OWC Public Relations Officer in a statement he issued on August 5, said that the reports being made that they (OWC) had given funds to individual musicians or any people in the entertainment industry are false, diversionary and should be treated with all the contempt they deserve.
“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 very clearly defined processes and protocols as spelt out in the Public Finance Management Act,” Maj Tabaro noted.
He added that the organization’s Chief Coordinator Gen Salim Saleh 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 means of facilitating different kind of support and other strategies to help the country deal with the harsh effects of coronavirus pandemic on the pandemic.
“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 artistes, build capacity and equip them with the requisite skills to handle shocks that can impede their ability to earn a living in the future,” the statement wrote.
According to the statement, the creative arts industry is dominated by people who operate in the 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 and harmony. 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,” the statement further read in part.
The statement also revealed that during such engagements with the creatives which include but not limited to music artistes, alternative ways to earn a living and also to capitalize on their talent and large fan bases are shared, discussed and demonstrated.
