Mt Kenya musicians are planning to expand their sacco to include those from other regions, chairman Epha Maina has said.
Speaking in Murang’a on Wednesday, Maina said the Talented Musicians and Comedians Organisation (Tamco) has received many requests from artists from other regions to benchmark on its milestones.
Maina said the group has asked artists to join saccos and open branches in their regions. “Tamco is a national group and will work with all musicians to help them come up with their own outfits under our group,” he said. Maina spoke during the laying of the foundation of their Sh80 million commercial building in Kenol.
The regional groups will appoint committees and elect three delegates each, who will be meeting nationally on a regular basis.
Incorporating other regions will strengthen it and enable musicians to fight for their interests .
Maina said musicians have remained divided for long and it is time for them to speak in one voice.
Tamco’s spokesperson Ben Githae said artists have not been able to accomplish much together because even when they get financial support, they subdivide it amongst themselves.
Githae said in the nine months Tamco has been in existence, it has done more for members than the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) has ever managed to.
“The MCSK has nothing to show for its support to musicians, yet our group has managed to buy a Sh10 million parcel of land,” he said.
Githae asked people of goodwill to come out and support their project, which he said will serve as a catapult for their group.
The group’s plan is to expand its investments to other areas to stop the trend of artists growing old and frail without any meaningful investment, he said.
“Now musicians from other regions are joining in and together, we will empower each other and help safeguard our futures,” Githae said.
