Ugandan musicians under their umbrella, the National Union of Creative and Performing Artistes have on Tuesday petitioned the Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga over laws to regulate their music by the Uganda Communications Commission-UCC.

The artists who are protesting the laws claim they were never consulted while the new legislation was being drafted earlier this year.

Speaker Kadaga took to social media after the brief meeting with the group and pledged to present their concerns to parliament.

The tweet reads; I have received a petition from the National Union of Creative and Performing Artistes of #Uganda. They are aggrieved about some laws and regulations that they say are hurting the music industry. The artistes say they weren’t consulted as key stakeholders, Kadaga wrote

She indicated that the creative and performing arts need a political head and a Commission so they know where to run to.

According to the new regulations, the vetting of new songs which requires artistes to submit their lyrics or any art form for examination before it goes public.

Also, song artistes are supposed to notify UCC before performing anywhere in order to be availed with a licensees

The regulations also stipulate that no person shall engage in any form of film production, still photography, or engage in the business of film production without a license from the commission.

The regulations are also to the effect that no person shall engage in any form of commercial photography without a license from the commission and upon which commercial photography will only take place in areas gazetted by the commission.

In all this process UCC has the powers to monitor the content and confiscate the equipment at its discretion.