• The Cabinet Secretary further affirmed that the government has every intention to fix this.
• He, however, said that due process will be followed in doing this.
Image: MOSES KURIA/X
Public Service CS Moses Kuria has once again told off the Music Copyright Society of Kenya CEO Ezekiel Mutua in an ongoing tiff over royalties for artists.
Speaking on Wednesday night, Kuria said that there are no more fools in Kenya and tough questions will be asked.
He, however, said that due process would be followed in doing so.
The Cabinet Secretary who was on Citizen TV also remarked that the time for people to misuse Kenyan artists for their benefits is long gone.
"You can tell that guy, Ezekiel Mutua, there are no more fools in this country. Questions are going to be asked; serious questions are going to be asked following due process. The time for misusing our artistes and talents is long gone.
"We are doing a lot as government to support talents, are we doing this to support them on one hand and then some people just mess them up on the other hand? As a responsible government we won't do it," Kuria said.
He further affirmed that the government has every intention to fix this.
"Due process will take place and we are going to salvage our artistes from the yoke of people who want to exploit them. They will get their rights. We have amendments coming in the Copyright Act and they are going to sort out this problem once and for all."
CS Kuria's remarks came after the Kenya Copyright Board invited the EACC and DCI to probe what chairman Joshua Kutuny termed as the disparity in amounts declared by the three Collective Management Organisations (CMOs).
Kutuny claimed that the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK), Kenya Association of Music Producers (KAMP) and Performers Rights Society of Kenya (PRISK) jointly collected Sh249,687,212.80 in royalties but there were disparities in amounts declared by individual entities.
“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.
According to Kutuny, the MCSK presented a list of members who received royalties in 2023 but on review, the Board of Directors found the information presented was scanty and at variance with details on joint collection.
In response, Mutua said the criteria of distribution that would allocate artistes 70 per cent of monies collected is non-existent.
He said the distribution which started on January 25, is still ongoing and will run until March 29, 2024.
“We ran a public notice on January 19 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 licenced 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.
In response to Kutuny’s claims that the collection of royalties was scanty, Mutua said the biggest revenue stream for Kenyan artists is Skiza tunes.
“Kecobo we should clean that one too,” he said.
“When MCSK administered Skiza Tunes (Ring back tunes) it once paid an individual artist over Sh20 million. Why is Kecobo focusing on the imaginary misappropriation of Sh56 million when proper payment of Skiza Tunes would change the whole scenario and make artists rich? Why the sideshows?” he asked.