BABE COOL DENIES ARRESTING TEMS OMAH LAY IN UGANDA
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Ugandan musician Bebe Cool has refuted claims that he played a role in the arrest of Nigerian singers Tems and Omah Lay in Uganda in 2020.
As a reminder, Tems and Omah Lay were detained, charged, and later imprisoned in Uganda for attending a concert at Speke Resort, Kampala, on December 12, 2020, in violation of COVID-19 social distancing regulations.
Tems had previously accused Bebe Cool of being responsible for their arrest after they were granted bail following two days in jail.
In a recent episode of the Afrobeats podcast, Bebe Cool addressed the allegations, firmly denying that he was involved in their arrest.
He said, “I didn’t get Tems and Omah Lay arrested in Uganda. It’s very difficult when the internet pick on story in a direction.
“I was sleeping around 3am when a friend called me to inform that the Nigerian artists had been arrested. I got the details from him and then I started making my calls.
“So, by 6 O’clock in the morning, I went to the police station and spoke to the DPC, the head of the police station and he confirmed that they had arrested Tems and Omah Lay. I told him, ‘Why did you go to arrest the artistes because the artistes are not in charge of the show. The president has given an allowance of 200 people but the artistes don’t control the number of attendees. So why arrest them?’
“The DPC told me that I should go and speak with his superior. But as I was speaking to the DPC, the show promoter saw me and started saying, “That’s the guy. That guy is the reason that you are in prison. The promoter was accusing me of facilitating the arrests because two weeks before that event when they started advertising it, the artistes in Uganda, we were totally mad at the government because we’ve been shut down from performing for over a year and half.
“Not even I, who is pro-government could even perform for even a 100 people. So, everyone was tweeting. We as artistes decided to tweet to the government so that they can allow us to do small gigs. We were saying if you allow Tems and Omah Lay to perform in Uganda, then allow us to do gigs, too. So because it’s Babe Cool, my tweets went viral.
“When I went to the police station, I only put in words for the two artistes who were arrested. The show promoter was also arrested but I didn’t appeal for her release which didn’t sit down well with her. I left the police station to the head office to meet with the big boss and as I was waiting, I saw on my phone that the Nigerian artists had been arraigned before the court. I made a call to the DPC and said, ‘I just left, I’m waiting for the big man to come so that we can discuss and you went behind me and took the artistes to court?’ He explained to me that when I left the promoter lady made a mess and was bragging about how her mother had connections to the president.”
Bebe Cool stated that it was actually him who worked relentlessly to secure the release of Tems and Omah Lay, contrary to reports in some media outlets that credited Nigeria’s ambassador with their release.
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