Kutuny lowers Kecobo executive director qualifications in new ad

Chairperson of the Kenya Copyright Board Joshua Kutuny has lowered the qualification requirements for a new executive director in a fresh advertisement published Tuesday.

In the amended advert inviting qualified candidates to apply for the post, Kutuny also extended the application deadline to March 25, 2024.

“This is to inform you that the advertisement for the position of Executive Director for the Kenya Copyright Board (BECOBO) published on February 13, 2024, has been amended,” the ad reads in part.

In the new ad, four key qualifications that were required of applicants have been dropped and replaced with three new less stringent capabilities.

Potential applicants are now required to be advocates of the High Court with not less than five years of experience or be a holder of a judicial office in Kenya.

In the previous ad, applicants were required to be advocates of the High Court of Kenya and must have served for not less than 10 years.

In the amended ad, applicants are also required to have at least five years of managerial experience and at least five years of experience in matters relating to copyright and other related rights.

In the previous advert, one should have had at least 15 years of experience in the administration of copyright and related rights, five years of which must have been at the managerial level.

One was also previously required to have a Master’s degree in intellectual property preferably in Copyright and related rights.

Additionally, one was required to be a holder of a certificate in a leadership course not less than four weeks from a recognized university.

“All other details remain unchanged. Applicants who had applied earlier are advised to apply afresh. We apologise for any inconvenience caused to applicants,” Kutuny said.

The new development did not, however, go without criticism from MCSK boss Ezekiel Mutua who said the Kecobo executive director post has been re-advertised one too many times.

“Kutuny can't even get it right with an advert for the KECOBO ED post…This advert has been done three times in a month,” he said.

Kutuny and the Music Copyright Society of Kenya chief executive have in recent days been at loggerheads over last year’s royalties disbursements to artists.

In a statement on January 21, Kutuny claimed that there was a disparity in amounts declared by the three Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) mandated with collecting royalties for artists.

He claimed MCSK, Kenya Association of Music Producers (KAMP) and Performers Rights Society of Kenya (PRISK) jointly collected Sh249,687,212.80 in royalties in 2023 but amounts declared by individual entities had disparities.

“While KAMP and PRISK declared a collection of Sh249 million and they accounted for Sh61 million and Sh52.7 million, respectively. MCSK on its part declared receipts of Sh109 million representing a shortfall of Sh26 million,” Kutuny said.

“Cumulatively, MCSK declared total revenues of Sh139,295,094 comprising of Public Performance (109 million) and Mechanical income (thirty million)."

Kutuny invited the EACC and the DCI to probe the figures saying artists got less than they deserved because of the poor collection of monies and the method of distribution employed by MCSK.

“All the Societies did not set aside royalties from collections in quarters two, three and four despite the improved business environment. As per the Copyright (CMO) Regulations, the CMOs ought to have distributed at least Sh173 million or 70 per cent of that collection. This is clearly not the case here,” he said.

Hours later, Mutua hit back at the Kecobo boss.

“We ran a public notice on the 19th of January citing the amount of money to be distributed and the criteria to be used for distribution. We cited the rules of distribution and criteria based on log sheets from licensed broadcasters and the amount of money declared for distribution,” he said on X.

“But today, KECOBO says we should have paid using something they are calling the 70 per cent rule. Where exactly in the Copyright Act or any other law in Kenya does it talk of the 70 per cent rule?” he posed.

Mutua termed Kutuny’s claims as “sideshows” and said MCSK would issue a comprehensive report on the distribution of royalties upon the conclusion of the distribution exercise on March 29, 2024.