Kampala — ARTISTES, dancers, sponsors and organisers of indecent shows face a seven-year jail term, ethics and integrity minister, Dr. James Nsaba Buturo has warned.

"The law is very clear and we are going to enforce it. We have had enough," the ethics and integrity minister, Dr. James Nsaba Buturo, warned on Friday.

The Penal Code states: "Any person who, whether in public or in private, commits any act of gross indecency with another person or procures another person to commit any act of gross indecency with him or her or attempts to procure the commission of any such act by any person with himself or herself or with another person, commits an offence and is liable to imprisonment for seven years."

Buturo said: "The Government has information about Smirnoff Street Jam, which featured a Jamaican musician, Elephant Man. During the show, Elephant Man is reported to have incited the public into smoking marijuana."

"He is also reported to have committed gross indecent acts with women on stage," the minister added. Buturo noted that during concerts, revellers engage in drug abuse and several immoral acts go on.

"At these concerts, they insult the modesty of women and girls. They promote violence against women. Rape, defilement and the spread of HIV/AIDS are the by-product of actions by these so-called artistes."

The minister said the Miss Uganda contests "are nonsense and degrade women."

Referring to the Penal Code, Buturo warned that any person, who insults the modesty of a woman or girl, commits an offence and is liable to a one-year jail sentence. Buturo urged the media not to give coverage to indecent concerts.

Addressing journalists at the Media Centre in Kampala on Friday, the minister said performers and organisers of indecent shows were responsible "for seeking to turn our country into a dumping ground of decadent and illegal practices."

Buturo said this undermines the Government and parents' efforts to raise children in an upright way.

But the Club Silk proprietor, Elvis Ssekyanzi, dismissed the reports. "Elephant Man did not smoke marijuana on stage. He just picked a cigarette from the audience and invited people on stage for a dancing competition."