The much anticipated annual Acoli cultural festival event scheduled for December 15 to 17 at Kaunda Ground Gulu has been postponed in fight against Ebola and Covid-19.
In a letter from the Ker Kwaro Acholi through Central Organizing Committee of the event dubbed " were ordered to called off the December 2022 event out of concern for public safety amid the risk from the Covid-19 pandemic and Ebola Outbreak in the country.
Below is how the letter read;
Ker Kwaro Acoli regrets to inform the Acoli community and the general public that it is unable to proceed with the celebrations of the annual Acoli Cultural Festival as planned.
A new date will be communicated in due course. The reason for the postponement is in line with the presidential directive on matters health and specifically on covid19 pandemic and Ebola outbreak in Uganda.
Our meetings with the authority did not yield any positive results.
In his address to the nation on 2nd December 2022, the President re-emphasized use of facemasks in all public places and gathering, a vaccination certificate with evidence of up-to - date boosting or a negative PCR test done within 24 hours for mass public gathering as a measure to control the spread of the virus. Ker Kwaro Acoli cannot guarantee that all the over 30,000 people expected to attend the festival within the 3 days will adhere to the ministry of health guideline and the presidential directive even with continuous social messaging on radio.
However, activities such as the Okot p’ Bitek Memorial Lecture, Bicycle races in the different districts and Odilo Ker will go on as planned, these attracts fewer people and it is done in shorter hours making it possible to adhere to the above guidelines. We have informed our sponsors and partners of the development accordingly and we have an agreement.
We apologize for any inconveniences this has caused. We wish you all a merry Christmas and a prosperous 2023.
Chairperson
Central Organizing Committee
Acoli Cultural Festival
Ker Kwaro Acoli
December 2022.
