Gengetone Festival CEO Mtetei Mtetezi urges Uhuru to lift the COVID-19 restrictions as artistes continue to suffer

Renowned organizer Mtetei Mtetezi has urged President Uhuru Kenyatta to lift the regulations that have been put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19 because many local artists are going through a hard time.

Also read: What next for Kenyan entertainment after COVID-19?

Mtetezi, who is the CEO of Gengetone Festival, called on the president to have artists, who rely on performance fees to put food on their tables, in mind when he makes his next announcement.

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“I’d like to appeal to the president to consider artistes who have not been having shows since COVID-19 began,” he remarked.

When the first case of Coronavirus was announced on March 13, 2020, the government put in place many measures to stop the spread of the deadly virus that originated in China.

Some of the measures included, restricting international travel, asking citizens to wear masks, banning large public gatherings and ordering the closure of pubs and entertainment joints.

The last two have really hurt the entertainment industry since most artists rely on doing shows to afford their basic needs.

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Gengetone Festival CEO Mtetei Mtetezi was among those who were affected by the move by the government to ban public gatherings since he had to postpone a mega event that was to go down on April 10, 2020.

The function, which was to be held at Machakos People’s Park, had a star studded line up including the likes of Jua Cali, Sailors, Ethic, Boondocks Gang, Zzero Sufuri, just to name a few. Willis Raburu was to emcee the gig.

Mtetezi joins a long list of public figures who have urged the president to lift the bans. A fortnight ago, Khaligraph Jones penned down a letter to Uhuru informing him how artists are suffering.