Uganda National Musicians Federation (UNMF) president and singer Eddy Kenzo has announced that Pallaso will no longer receive any financial support from the federation , citing his decision to join the opposition as the reason.
Pallaso, real name Pius Mayanja, previously served as the acting Vice President of the UNMF under Kenzo’s leadership. Recently, he publicly declared his allegiance to the National Unity Platform (NUP) and was officially welcomed into the party by its president, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine), last month.
According to Kenzo, Pallaso’s move contradicts the federation’s position.
During an interview with journalist Noordeen Ntege, Kenzo stated that he does not support Bobi Wine and therefore could not participate in any campaign activities linked to NUP.
Kenzo further explained that the federation’s funding originates from the ruling government, the National Resistance Movement (NRM), and as such, cannot be allocated to individuals supporting the opposition.
“I support President Museveni, but my vice president (Pallaso) supports NUP and is actively campaigning for them. We are both federation leaders, yet I cannot perform at NUP events because I don’t share their political stance. Everyone should understand that the ruling party is NRM. They provided this money, and we can’t give it to their political opponents,” he said.
Kenzo has consistently spoken out against musicians mixing politics with their careers. When asked whether the federation discriminates against artists based on political beliefs, he clarified that their cooperation with the government is simply a gesture of appreciation.
“If another party comes to power and supports our proposals, we will also work with them. The federation agreed that since the current government supported us, we should acknowledge that by being reasonable. When a new government takes office, we’ll cooperate with them as well. The UNMF represents musicians across Uganda, and right now, the government mandated to empower citizens is the NRM. We wrote our funding proposal to the ruling party because this is for Ugandans,” he added.
Pallaso is yet to respond to Kenzo’s remarks and once he does ,we shall keep you posted.