Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) CEO Ezekiel Mutua has ignited a fresh war with Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO) Chair Joshua Kutuny, alleging that he has failed President William Ruto’s government.
Mutua stated that “anyone who loves this country must tell President William Ruto the truth that he has been failed by his team.”
The MCSK CEO further claimed that Ruto appointed very corrupt and incompetent people to public office.
He noted that some appointments were made to facilitate corrupt deals and personal enrichment rather than to serve the public.
“Look at someone like Joshua Kutuny, the Chairman of the Kenya Copyright Board. He has used his position to wreak havoc on the music industry for personal gain,” Mutua said.
“In a blatant display of impunity, he gave the Collective Management Organizations (CMOs) license to something called Performing and Audio-Visual Rights Society of Kenya (PAVRISK). Today, the court has suspended his illegal decision. But so much damage has been done.”
Ezekiel Mutua Wants Kutuny Fired
Mutua further asked President Ruto to fire Kutuny from his role, alleging that he does not provide any assistance to the government.
“Mr President, sack such people. They don’t help your cause. Let Kutuny go!” he wrote.
This comes after on May 2024 KECOBO instructed all Collective Management Organizations (CMOs)to cease their operations with immediate effect pending the renewal of their licences.
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According to Kutuny, three of the CMOs had been using the same system to collect royalties and using common staff members while two of them were even sharing an office.
This, he stated, was despite the fact that each of the three entities had its own CEO and a separate board of directors, thereby leading to increased cost of operations.
MCSK Stripped off Its Role of Royalties Collection
On June 6, 2024, KECOBO approved a one-year licence for PAVRISK, formerly PRISK, as the sole organization charged with collecting and distributing royalties to artists.
Kutuny said the decision was arrived at after a thorough vetting process aimed at solving the perennial issues affecting the sector.
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He noted that PAVRISK was picked out of five interested CMO after demonstrating the ability to regulate the affairs of royalty collection and distribution single-handedly.
Kutuny argued that having a single CMO enables the board to cut operation expenses and manage resources prudently in a bid to ensure fair distribution of at least 70% royalties to artists.
He also noted a lack of transparency in collecting and distributing royalties, which resulted in the suffering of Kenyan artists, enhanced corruption, as well as wanton looting of the musicians’ hard-earned money.
Consequently, on June 13, KECOBO issued a directive for the immediate closure of all accounts used by the MCSK for royalties’ collection.
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