Abbey Musinguzi's lawyers claim he is being targeted because he is a supporter of politician Bobi Wine. A MAN has been charged with nine counts of negligence after a crush in Uganda killed 10 people, including children at a New Year’s Eve concert.  

Abbey Musinguzi, 52, appeared at the chief magistrates court in Makindye on Tuesday.

The music promoter, who is well known for staging major festivals in the capital Kampala, has denied all the charges. He has been remanded in prison in Luzira. 

The tragedy struck just days after music promoters in Ghana ended an AfroNation concert after a dangerous amount of people with no tickets attempted to enter the venue.

British-grime artist Skepta and Nigerian-Afrobeats sensation Asake, who recently had to end his UK show following a crowd crush in Brixton that left two dead, were all expected to grace the stage.

Mr Musinguzi was blasted by prosecutors after they alleged he caused a stampede at Freedom City Mall when he decided to shut down outlets to the venue.

More than 20,000 concert-goers were then forced to use only one gate for an exit point. 

A stampede ensued that left 10 people between the ages of 10-20 dead. 

Fred Enanga, a police spokesperson, said that promoters had ordered four other exits to close and investigators were now examining whether “negligence” played a part in the tragedy, according to Barron’s.

He told reporters: “We have so far arrested the promoter of that New Year concert. We are also actively searching for other organisers and promoters.

“The revellers had one point of entry and exit. Therefore several victims were trapped and trampled upon through the narrow passage which became a bottleneck for many, mostly juveniles.”

Following the disaster, Mr Musinguzi’s lawyers claim he is being targeted because is a supporter of Bobi Wine – the controversial opposition leader of National Unity Platform.

Ugandan Police have called for more people including the owner of the building to record statements about the incident. The Voice