Singer Mansur Semanda, known as King Saha, has revealed why he turned down an opportunity to curtain-raise for Tanzanian superstar Diamond Platnumz during his recent performance in Uganda, insisting that he is too big to perform as an opening act for the Bongo Flava star.

Reports indicated that King Saha was among the artistes expected to perform at the event but surprisingly declined the offer, sparking questions about his decision.

Speaking about the incident, Saha boldly claimed that he could outperform Diamond, arguing that when it comes to music and entertainment, he has what it takes to outshine the Tanzanian star and gets to dance Lingala.

I can’t curtain-raise for Diamond. I can perform and beat Diamond in music and disco as he grooves to Lingala.

Here in Uganda, we have only left him to enjoy ladies, but when it comes to discography, he has no seat. He can’t handle it.

Saha also questioned whether Ugandan promoters were partly responsible for what he considers the excessive hype surrounding foreign artistes booked to perform in the country.

He suggested that promoters are afraid of giving local artistes the same level of attention and opportunities, comparing the situation to someone willing to pay Shs10,000 for a soda that normally costs Shs1,000.

People have a phobia. Someone can buy a soda worth Shs1,000 at Shs10,000, so I can’t also go somewhere they sell me a Shs1,000 soda at Shs10,000. The promoters just have phobia.

The singer further maintained that he had reached a stage in his music career where he needed to appreciate his own achievements rather than allow foreign artistes to overshadow his contribution to the industry.

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Reflecting on his reported audience turnout at Kololo Independence Ceremonial Grounds, Saha argued that he could not ignore the support of his fans by placing other artistes above himself.

For the time I’ve been doing music, I think I can now celebrate myself. I can’t fill Kololo Independence Ceremonial Grounds and overlook myself.

When those guys are announced for shows, organisers advertise them with the intention of attracting close to 10,000 to 20,000 fans. When I advertised mine, I got 140,000 fans.

So I can’t undermine the efforts of fans who love me. When we say the others are better than me, that means I’m undermining my fans.