KAMPALA – Uganda Musician’s Association (UMA) president Wycliffe Tugume alias Ykee Benda has cleared the air on the issue of whether President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni alias Sevo is a registered member of UMA.
Speaking on the Talk N Talk show, the Mpaka Records boss revealed that the fountain of honor’s name is not anywhere among the registered artists in the association.
Benda noted that the ‘Another Rap’ hit maker has never paid the registration and membership fee of Shs 20,000.
“The president is not yet a registered member of UMA because I have never seen his name in the registration books. He has never paid the registration fee of Shs 20,000. That’s what we are most interested in,” Ykee Benda said.
The association head however, emphasized that the president should feel free to pay the amount and he will be gladly welcomed to the association with open arms.
In October 2019 Yoweri Kaguta Museveni was officially registered and confirmed as a member of the Uganda Musicians Association (UMA) with the stage name ‘Sevo’ at Kololo Airstrip.
The announcement was made after he reportedly cleared all the requirements needed for an artist to become a member of the association which included paying Shs 50K and his clearance receipt was shown to the media.
After the revival of Uganda Musician Association (UMA), it was made mandatory for every Ugandan musician to re-register with the association. However, a number of them declined to abide by the rules as stipulated by the constitution of the association. Sevo is one of these musicians.
Much as he faced a lot of criticism from fellow artists who doubted his leadership skills as the Uganda Musicians Association (UMA) president, Ykee Benda has been keen in streamlining the operations of UMA to see to it that all artists benefit from this association.
After his inauguration as UMA president, Ykee Benda revealed to the public how his mission as UMA president is to see that every artist at least boasts of UGX 100M on their accounts before stepping on stage.
“The assurance that I can give to the nation is that I will be there in UMA either as a commoner or a leader to give my views. My love for music is mostly in a business mind. My mission is to see every artist that before they take to the stage, one should at least be having UGX 100m on their bank accounts,” he said then.
He went ahead and called upon all musicians who downplayed his abilities as the new president of UMA to meet him so that they can hold talks and appoint a person whom they believe deserves the position.
