What was supposed to be a successful event for organizers ended on the sad note as promoter Abitex (Abbey Musinguzi) together with Balaam Byarugahara (Balaam) reportedly took off with all the monies from the gate collections which left organizers stranded.
Masaka was filled to capacity as the Kabaka royalists flocked the remotely located Nabugabo sand beach to watch the 2019 Kabaka Royal boat regatta finals last Saturday.
Kabaka (King) His Majesty, Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II graced the annual cultural event –appearing before his royalists for the second time in a week after officially opening the 2019 Airtel-Masaza Football tournament in Mityana.
Kabaka urged youths to work hard and fight HIV/Aids. “Men should take lead in the fight against HIV/Aids,” noted Kabaka after being taken around on the waters by (Gabunga) Mamba clan head for 11 minutes. Having finished second last (17th) in the last competition (2017), Buddu returned strong to beat other 17 partaking counties to win the 2019 edition with Bulemeezi, Gomba and Bugerere coming second, third, and forth respectively.
The champions were given a trophy, Bull and Shs2m to the excitement of Buddu county chief Vincent Mayiga, who vowed to ensure they defend the championship next year.
Abitex, who reportedly had promoter Balaam Byarugahara as undercover financier, fled the scene immediately after Kabaka handed over the title to regatta winners and hid in one of classy Masaka hotels.
However, Abitex refuted all the claims, saying that the show did not even live to his investment in promoting it. “I did not even scoop the money I invested in promoting the show but I delivered as expected. We were with all officials and left at will. Whoever is spreading such baseless allegations has ill intentions to spoil my name. We had terms and conditions for the promotion partnership and I have not received any complaint,” Abitex is quoted by SportsOcean.
Eng. Ben Misagga, the chairman Local organizing committee, who too left late and visibly disgruntled, could neither deny nor confirm the development –declining to comment since he was yet to engage Abitex
