Balaam on what it takes to organise a show 

The stampede during a New Year’s Eve show at Freedom City mall, which left ten people dead, left a lot of questions about how shows are organized in this country.

Are the requirements set by lawmakers adhered to, and who is to blame in case of an unfortunate incident? Ernest JJjingo talked to renowned events promoter BALAAM BARUGAHARA about what really goes into organizing an event.

What requirements are promoters expected to meet before organizing an event?

We start our preparation by venue identification, then artiste identification, venue booking, artiste booking, and media campaign for promotion of the event. We then seek permission from the relevant authorities starting with the police.

You write to the IGP notifying him that you have an event and request for his permission to hold it and security. The IGP responds by giving you the things you need. In most cases, they say they need you to have access control, pay money at public service rate for manpower you are getting (police officers), a standby ambulance on ground, KCCA clearance, receipt from venue owner to prove that they have allowed you to use their premises.

The other permission we seek is from NEMA because they regulate noise pollution. So, an event is set up in such a way that you cannot hold it unless police and the local council of the area have cleared you. Before an event starts, police sends its counter terrorism squad to sweep the venue with sniffer dogs aided by the officers.

Sometimes the promoters say they will pay the policemen sent to enforce security, but I have seen instances where promoters run off without paying the police officers who have been on duty on their shows.

About the Freedom City incident, how could such an incident have been avoided?

Abitex [the doomed show’s promoter, Abbey Musinguzi] was to blast fireworks at Freedom City, but you can’t do that from an enclosed venue which means it had to happen from outside. That building has five gates, but why did they open one?

When I asked him [Abitex] why they opened one gate, he said that the owner said he doesn’t open all his gates; so, they must use one. That risk could have been avoided if they had opened all the gates since they knew people were going to rush out to watch the fireworks.

At Sheraton hotel where I organize my new year’s eve show, I leave all the gates open because I know once the fireworks display is finished, people begin to get out of the venue. The owner and management of Freedom City also have a hand in this incident for refusing to open all the gates.

But the organizer should also have informed the police immediately that the venue owner had refused to open all exits to easily let people out. The police should have also enforced by arresting the managers of the venue … there was close to 20,000 people inside the venue. So, the laziness and carelessness was on all the three parties.

We always see private security guards and bouncers manning security at these events; does that mean police does not offer enough deployment?

We supplement the police deployment with private security guards and bouncers because police do not have the capacity to deploy so many of its officers at just one event.

For instance, police issued close to 2,500 permits for fireworks throughout the country and every place where there was going to be a fireworks display had to have at least four policemen just to oversee the fireworks display, and not guarding the venue and crowds. So, you find that there are no sufficient police officers to guard the crowds.

What are your recommendations so that such incidents don’t happen again?

Event organizers and venue owners should ensure that they have at least two gates operational and the place is well lit. Police should also ensure that they deploy enough police officers because it is not us [organizers] who dictate the number of officers to deploy since they are the security experts.

Police also needs to guide promoters on what kind of venues to use and what kind of shows should be held there. Police should inspect all venues and come up with several new measures like extra entry and exit points, creating assembly points in case of an emergency and vetting promoters because anyone who has money just jumps into the business and organizes an event even with no technical know-how.

I think there should also be training of manpower that work at these shows starting with promoters, venue owners and joint security teams that ensure safety at these events. KCCA should also give licenses to venue owners after making sure that they have health and safety measures in place, but in most cases these licenses are given out without first carrying out any inspections.

Do you usually have any mitigation plans in case of an emergency?

Health teams and an ambulance should be on standby at the venue in case of any unfortunate incident. The organizer of the event usually through the MC before the event kicks off should also tell the revellers the steps they can follow in case of any emergency and who to seek help from, show them all the exit points and emergency assembly point.

We also ensure that there is a fire brigade truck on site. There is a revelers liability insurance and I am going to encourage insurance companies to advertise that insurance policy further, such that the liability of any unfortunate incidence can be put on the insurance company.

We need to encourage big venues and events promoters to have that insurance policy; it costs about Shs 2 million but can cover you up to Shs 2 billion. Are limitations on how many people a venue can accommodate taken into consideration?

It is not about the size of the venue and how many people it can accommodate but rather about the access control of the venue; how easily can people get in and out. We usually don’t really know how many people are going to come, sometimes you organize and they come in large numbers and sometimes it flops.

But regardless of the size of the crowd, there should be enough access points in case of an emergency. For indoor events, it is easier to see that the place has reached its capacity and stop any more entries since in most cases places have seats which can get finished, but it is difficult for outdoor events where most people are just going to stand.

Most victims at Freedom City were children. Do you allow parents to freely bring their children to shows?

I don’t want people to blame parents for bringing their children out because parents want to be with their children and enjoy with them while ushering in the new year. Freedom City has a kids indoor park and adjacent to it is where shows are staged.

The purpose of going out on December 31 is to celebrate the excitement that comes with fireworks and that is what takes parents and their children there. They take their children to play as they wait for midnight. However, if the organizer knows that the venue also attracts children, he should put in place a pavilion for the children alone during the show such that they don’t have to compete for space with adults.

How much do you pay police for security?

You can determine how much because it depends on the number of police officers to be deployed. But each police officer can be required to be paid about Shs 70,000 as an allowance by the promoter. However, I advise that police makes it a mandate by promoters to pay these officers in advance, because you find an officer instead of protecting people is in the parking lot parking cars so that he can get some Shs 5,000 (tip).

We also sometimes need to sympathize with them and I don’t expect government to arrest the officers who were on duty at Freedom City. Instead, government should first ask them whether they had been paid before they went to work because some promoters are also not compliant.

WHAT THE LAW SAYS

According to the Public Order Management Act, 2013, duties of the police are outlined as; for any public gathering, police is required to provide enough security for both the participants and other members of the public likely to be affected by the public gathering; carry out risk assessment on all factors before the public meeting and notify the organizer accordingly; identify an appropriate traffic flow plan to allow the flow of both vehicle and human traffic; direct traffic and routes to and from the event to prevent obstruction of pedestrians or vehicle traffic or any other lawful business; disperse defiant or unruly crowds in order to prevent violence; restore order and preserve peace.

Under the same law, the responsibilities of the organiser are: have to be with a police letter that has date, time, place and number of people expected for the gathering, consent of venue owner; time when the gathering shall end; be responsible for adhering to the required criteria for holding public meetings; inform all participants of the traffic or assembly plan; provide sufficient stewards proportionate to the number of participants in the public meeting who shall be clearly identified with name tags; and coordinate and cooperate with police to ensure that all participants are unarmed and peaceful.

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