Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, has accused President Museveni of using the Uganda Musician Association (UMA) to stifle his growth as a musician and cripple the industry.
In a media briefing over the weekend, Kyagulanyi alleged that President Museveni and his brother, Salim Saleh, are threatened by artists as potential political rivals and therefore want to keep them impoverished.
Kyagulanyi claimed that UMA, which he helped establish and where he served as the first secretary-general, has been reduced to fighting him instead of uniting artists for their mutual benefit.
"UMA would be a powerful body by now, but the regime has been using it to cause division among creative artists," he said.
Kyagulanyi endorsed Manisul Ssemanda, popularly known as King Saha, for UMA president last year, and he accused the government of using a divide-and-rule strategy to create conflicts among artists. He urged artists not to beg Salim Saleh or any other non-musicians for help.
"Artists are creative people with rich content who are not supposed to become beggars in the country," he said.
"You are the one whom God has bestowed His favor upon," he added.
Kyagulanyi stressed that UMA should not be used as a tool to fight him and that it should remain focused on developing music and helping artists grow.
"If you can remember, we had a meeting at the National Theatre to fight some of the draconian laws that were put in place to frustrate artists," he said.
"Museveni is not supposed to be a member of UMA because he is not a musician. It should not be Salim Saleh. Artistes should not go to beg Salim Saleh for any help," he explained.
UMA is a platform that unites all musicians in Uganda to develop music and take care of their welfare.