Copied: Music in Space in Gulu
To the Mayor Hon Okwonga Alfred
Thank you for a very interesting 2 month in Gulu, that I never will forget.
Thank you for your support.
Thank you for the amazing rehearsal space.
I fel in love with this place from the beginning, and felt that I could settle down here. Unfortunately things have developed in a different direction, and I’m far gone, with the possibility of never coming back.
The last two month have been super productive, and we have a complete 3 day festival, with 52 confirmed main artists with contracts and time slots. We have a confirmed Pece Stadium, and we have a groundbreaking international PR plan rolling out. Our mission and message to the world is crystal clear.
Unfortunately we have been bullied, scammed and threatened, so we see other option, than take our festival and move it to a safe place.
All the international artist have already been payed 50%, so there is no stopping. We will make the festival 4-6th of July, no matter what. There’s already 2 countries who have offered their help.
Tomorrow we have to choose between 3 stadiums 🏟️ and Monday in another country we have the same options + a sponsorship deal. It’s counties I’ve been to before, so I’m well connected and missed.
Our 1$ festival combined with the number 1 Amapiano billboard artists from SA, artists from 27 countries interacting with local artists is a winner. And the profit should have gone to planting trees in northern Uganda 🇺🇬 …
But….however. That was not how it was gonna be. We have been surrounded be a group of super helpful people, who unfortunately have taken advantage of us.
I think the first time we were bullied, was when I rented my big house, across Biggies - Lower Churchill drive. 2nd house to the right - black gate. Santa’s place.
Our new friends, that Tonny Olenge had introduced us for - Laxzy Mover, Eddy Wizzy, Eezzy and their manager Walter - was very keen, that we should have a big house for the period, and Walter knew just the right house - only 4mill all included - it was a big empty house with no furniture or kitchen things, but we had to see it the same night. And confirm. It was nice- and next day we got a contract. I immediately transferred 16 mill UGX.
Unfortunately all the things we agreed about, got changed.
The cleaning was extra, the security was extra, water and electricity was extra. So now we had a house to 6.5 mill.
It was apparently very important that the old sweet gatekeeper got fired, and I got a proper security guard. They costed the same, and the old guy was away because of a funeral for 3-4 days, so Tony Olenges friend Affair moved in. Big strong military guy. 1mill a month. That gave me quite a few problems, even Walter said that he fixed it.
Short after the water in the house stopped working, but the landlady Adong Santa, didn’t have any money, so I had to fix it for another 2.5 million, if the house with all the people that now were gathering, should work.
Tony Olenge now took us to all the Authorities, getting permit for the Pece stadium. That was quite a show, and I had to pay a lot of people money for the permit, but I could live with that. Tonnys friend also died, and I contributed with a 1 million for that. Walter’s best friend also had an accident. That was 500.000 UGX.
We had 2 other death from remote people, but I choose to overhear it.
Now we were getting ready for the press conference and to start selling the show and getting sponsors.
I had an idea that sponsors would arrive when ticket sale started.
Unfortunately ticket sale with flexipay, demanded that I had a work permit visa. Tonny Olenge took care of that. After 4 weeks it arrived 2 days before the press conference, but it was fake. My 1000 $ for extra super fast Visa was wasted, and tickets are still not for sale.
So we went full in on international promotion. Tonny Olenges friend Dominic Ochola, knew all the journalists. Soon we made a contract with BBC, CNN, MTV and Trace. The 5 biggest local stations were also coming. Total budget 5.000 US$.
Expensive but totally worth it.
Unfortunately the press conference was fake. The international journalists from CNN, BBC, MTV and Trace, never broadcasted anything.
And Tonny, Walter, Laxzy, Eddy and Eezzy had another arrangement / booking on top of the press conference we had planed for 4 weeks.
So they showed up 1.5 hours too late.
Making the priminister of Nothern Uganda wait together with all the journalists.
Eddy Wizzy never made it on stage, but he had his own press conference without us, for the local media that I paid for, in the Acholi Garden.
Very strange…
So the 3 planed activities for the journalists- Taka Taka, Michael Tebere Kijani and plastic clean up at the market, got cancelled.
The mediavan that Dominic Ochola guaranteed, was suddenly not available. So we went for the public press release at the rehearsal space at Kaunda Grounds at 17.00 - 20.00.
My idea was that people might not understand the idea of the perspective from space, but everybody understands food and drinks. So our Gatekeeper affair came with a good budget :
Good morning sir, here are the bills which are still pending on . policemen = 350,000/= , chef = 750,000/=, Dancers= 250,000/=, slaughtering team =150,000/= and Rainmaker 150,000/= all total money = 1,650,000
Together with a lot of meet for everyone, the total budget was 6.5 mill UGX.
They were working hard serving Cow, Chicken and Goat.
Unfortunately this massive pile of food ran out after 1 hour at 17.00 just when the event started, even we were at the top 80 people including 50 street kids.
Drinks came on top, and my COO spend 6mill of my money on top of the 6.5 mill for food.
No matter what - there was neither food or drinks.
I had planed a performance with Laxzy, but he was nowhere to be found before after 19.00. Him and his DJ Uncle Red, arrived after all the Live music, and made a completely self invented show, that had nothing to do with the planed rehearsals.
Uncle Red used the pitch on his DJ deck, so my guitar was out of tune. They also connected their own microphones, so I couldn’t record the audio via my mixer, so seen from a film production perspective the whole scene was waste of time.
And everything we rehearsed was cancelled or spoiled, except for the cultural dancers, who were amazing.
Tonny Olange had previously asked who should be the MC, and I said that I would do it myself, telling the people about the project, but when the music started some random guy I’ve never seen before - apparently - Tonny’s friend -jumped in and took over the show without knowing the running order or asking me, who had planed the whole thing. Disaster.
All the dancers and the dance coordinator “Candy” got so confused. Everyday for a week a have send them the setlist with small adjustments. Now all was random and ruined.
The cultural dancers were amazing, but since there was no food, and the artist didn’t post or invite any of their friends, not a lot showed up.
With top performers like:
Vampino, Eezzy, Eddy Wizzy, Laxzy Mover and myself and my band, we should attract more than 100-150 people. Otherwise we can’t sell a stadium, right ?
Now I had spend more than 14.000 UGX for an arrangement where there were no people, no food, and we didn’t do or film/record the planned show.
So everything piled up.
I could see with this kind of management, we would never be able to make a functioning festival.
So I took a hard decision to let the responsible manager Walter go.
It was him and Tonny who were responsible for the double booking, and I couldn’t let Tonny go. He is too high connected.
I could also see that my money was not spend on food, but ended in somebody’s pocket.
So I send home everyone to
re-group.
Next morning a guy from the metrological department showed up.
24 hours to late. The big show was a giant helium balloon, so we could show the world how it would look.
Unfortunately he was more than 24 hours late, and the 3 million UGX that I got charged, was disappeared and he had 2 small private 350g balloons. Very disappointing.
At this point my total budget was pretty extreme, and not one single element was working. So I send home everybody that was hanging out in the house so I could get some space, and make a plan.
My COO Kgomotso from South Africa wanted to go out with me and Mixola to Masaka lounge opening - but all the keys to the house were suddenly missing, with no possibility to lock any door. Some money from her bedroom were also missing.
There was a bad atmosphere, and the fact that anyone could come into any room at any time, was scary.
Especially because people knew that I was not happy with the show. Everybody could also see, that I have expensive equipment.
Sunday night was very strange, and we had a feeling of people would come and hurt us.
Walter was fired and everybody was sent home. Affair the gatekeeper, was best friends with all the police officers at Kaunda Grounds. What would they do ?
And still no international news, even I asked Dominic about it. - It was just on its way. One small interview in NBS.
I decided to take a week off from Gulu, and packed all my stuff. Get away.
I’ve been traveling for the last 4 years and 3 month, so I have what I have, and nothing apart from that.
I always travel with everything. I never know if there’s a cool jamsession or something on the way.
I was living in Kampala for 2 months last year.
So the sweet and always helpful Boda Mike from Forrest Hill, got us a car early Monday morning.
Tonny had asked us to come to Kampala asap to sponsor meetings.
Just after we left the house got invaded. The Gatekeeper Affair who was also responsible for the food disaster at Kaunda Grounds with his chef friends, who was not chefs but bouncers, now started texting us that he wants 3mill or we would not be able to came back home in our house.
He is a big scary military guy, that I paid to get out of jail 4 weeks earlier.
Now our house was barricaded and just because we were supposed to be out of town a few days, all these friends - Laxzy, Walter and Affair started to fight over our things, saying we were owing them money. And all their friends.
The house got packed by people who wanted more. And they started to send evil messages.
There were still no sight of all the news from the journalists, so we knew it all was just a scam.
Now we had lots so much money. We had done an amateur show. There was no food. And no news. And we should triple x 3 Affairs salaries to get our house back.
On top of that, Laxzy now came with the artist deal.
The contracts with Laxzy, Eddy and Eezzy was suddenly 10 milk UGX or man - a total of 30 mill UGX for 3 times 15 minutes show.
Nobody gets that.
We had agreed to 5 million, but now I could see my signature on a deal I have never seen before. Yes, we talked about that if they came with a big main sponsor, they would get 10 million each, but that was not the deal. My contract was manipulated one way or another.
So now we had a team - what we considered our best friends in Gulu - Taking our money. Destroying our planed show. And occupying our house with threats if we didn’t pay up.
That was yesterday.
So instead of a small vacation we decided leave the county.
We could have changed Gulu.
We could have put Gulu on the international map. We could have increased tourism.
But since Tonny Olenge is so high connected directly to the General, I don’t think there’s much we can do.
Sylvia did warn us in the beginning about Walter and his team, and told us to go with Walk. We had a super fun night at Acholi inn, where we met these guys, so we didn’t listen.
If this is the way things are run around here, I can totally understand that the first thing the General told me, was that he hated artists.
So….whats next?
Basically I don’t have any contracts with anybody above me.
The plan for the Music in Space show is done after years of planning. We have the number one billboard artist booked + artist from so many countries.
We have 70 % local artist as we should accordingly to Walter, otherwise our show would be boycotted.
We have more female artist than male artist.
We have no sponsors and the final approval of us using the stadiums security plans are also missing.
Tonny Olenge have taken 7.000 US$
Laxzy Mover have changed the contracts to 30 million UGX for 3 x 15min.
And Affair have invaded our house so we can’t come home unless we pay him 3mill a month for a security job, that has on writing say is 1mill.
I have screenshots of every conversation. I never speak in phone, so all is in writing. Everything I have talked about here is documented.
Every artist is paid. Every blogger is paid. Every DJ is paid. The cleaning lady Gladys is paid.
I’m Danish, and I never run from my word. And I’m never later.
I say what I do, and I do what I say.
So worst case scenario, we will take the main artist from Uganda, and bring them to the next country. But it’s not gonna be Laxzy. He broke the contract, and fired himself when he was 2 hours late twice in a day.
I don’t have a problem with Eezzy.
I promised and keep my promises.
I also promised not to ask for as much as a dollar, and I have kept that.
We have done all this with very very little help from anyone.
So the big question is :
What country will represent the festival this summer ?
After 24hours we have a lot of options.
We can’t be in a place where the change off cancellation is high. And we also value our own security very much. We can’t fear for our lives.
So …what are we gonna do ?
Xxx Bb
Bully list:
Eng Tonny Olanya Olenge
+256 789 259675
Affair
+256 789 974994
Dominic Ochola
+256 772 794025
Laxzy Mover
+256 783 768520
Walter Anywar
+256 783 555121
DJ Red
+256 726 99 5736
Please do not share.
For your eyes only.
