Uganda's Museveni rap copyright bid challenged

KAMPALA: Two Ugandan academics have challenged President Yoweri Museveni's copyright application for a popular rap song he recently released saying its lyrics were from a traditional poem.

Museveni last month released the song "You Want Another Rap" as a campaign tool targeting young voters ahead of next February's elections and applied for copyright earlier this month.

"Museveni is not the author of the rhymes. The song he wants copyrighted as his is actually part of the Kinyakole folklore and poetry and we are ready to prove that," Mwambusya Ndebesa, a history lecturer at Makerere University, said on Monday (20 December 2010).

He added that Museveni did not amend the words. The traditional poem is about achieving success.

"We are ready to challenge him that he is not the author and what he is doing is not right. It is intellectual dishonesty," he said.

The registrar of copyrights, Mercy Kyomugisha Ndyahikayo, said she had written to Museveni's lawyers informing them of the petition.

The song has become a huge hit in Uganda and is often played at Museveni's rallies and on radios while others use it as mobile phone ring tones.

Source: AFP