Some musicians from the South Rift region have voiced their grievances against the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) accusing it of allegedly withholding their royalties.
The musicians both from the gospel and secular sectors claimed there were disparities in the payment of royalties among the musicians across the country.
Addressing the press in Bomet, the musicians expressed their dissatisfaction with how the money was being disbursed despite having waited for long.
Led by their spokesman Joel Kimetto of Great Commission Singers and the Kalenjin Musicians and Artists Association chairman Paul Rotich Makiche, they argued that since there has been no explanation on how the royalties were being disbursed, most of them might have been defrauded.
The duo called on the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to probe MCSK for allegedly siphoning money from the musicians.
"We demand our hard-earned money now. We don't want monkey games yet the money has already been collected," Kimetto said.
Rotich urged those in charge of the collection of royalties to step aside in a bid to "clean" the MCSK so that musicians reap what they sow.
"These people must step aside so that we get our means of livelihood. It has become clear some people enrich themselves through our sweat. So we demand our money as soon as possible,” Rotich stated.
The demand by the musicians comes in the wake of allegations that MCSK could account for Sh56 million collected as royalties in 2023 according to Kenya Copyright Board (Kecobo) chairman Joshua Kutuny.
MCSK CEO Ezekiel Mutua has since threatened to sue Kecobo over the allegations.
"MCSK takes a very serious view of the wild allegations by Kecobo - which are meant to incite unsuspecting members to think that they have been short-changed. The Board has instructed our lawyers to take up the matter and bring this deliberate misinformation to an end. We assure the culprits that we shall meet in soon," Mutua said.
Rotich claimed that the membership of close to 10,000 musicians has not been issued despite having paid a membership fee of Sh5,000 to the concerned bodies dealing with the collection of royalties.
Kimetto said in the payment of royalties that was done recently, huge disparities were saying only seven musicians from Rift Valley got the money while the rest are still waiting to date.
“It is wrong for a few individuals to enrich themselves from other people's sweat and appear to control the music industry at the expense of the owners,” he said.
The two also thanked Kecobo for fighting for the musicians’ rights across the board.
