According to Issah Kawooya, the co-founder and current UAE chairperson, they have lined up two concerts, a fundraising charity dinner and boat cruise to spice up the association’s maiden Ugandan-American Gala and Business Expo set for September 2 to 4, 2022 in Studio City, California.

Swangz’s all-female singers aside, Kawooya said they have also signed up kadongokamu star Mathias Walukagga as well as Chosen Becky and Naira Ali to perform during the event.

“For us, it is 100 per cent entertainment and charity; we don’t want politics,” Kawooya told The Observer in an interview last week, explaining their stance to start UAE whose founders were formerly members of the two UNAA groups.

Interestingly, the original UNAA and UNAA-Causes will also be holding their annual gatherings on the same weekend in San Francisco and Las Vegas, respectively.

Normally, the main UNAA gathering attracts high-profile Ugandan government officials and has over the years transformed into a USA wing of the ruling NRM party, to the dismay of many Ugandans who fled the country due to political persecution.

UNAA-Causes, which, on the other hand, split from UNAA in the early 2010s, has been hit by mismanagement issues after being run singlehandedly by David Muwanga, its chief executive officer over the years.

For instance, its last two gatherings (2019 in New York and 2021 in Miami) flopped after some of the performers including Afrigo band and Nigerian star RudeBoy refused to perform over nonpayment, yet revellers had paid between $500 and $600 to register.

It is against such background that Kawooya says they decided to form a new group to ensure Ugandans in the diaspora get maximum entertainment and value for their money, devoid of politics.

“We have pooled resources as a group of eight directors to organize everything in the best way possible. We want to use the event to promote awareness and fundraise for girl-child causes and charity. Not politics,” he said.

Kawooya says they have partnered with Post Bank where Ugandans interested in attending can register for the event at $200 [Shs 700,000] and access invitations to the event.

The theme for the gala in Studio City will be about the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the girl-child in Uganda. Kayunga Woman MP Idah Nantaba, who is the patron of UAE’s charity wing in Uganda, is expected to be the keynote speaker.

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