Pay artistes their money, four governors tell MCSK

Piece by: Queen Serem
Entertainment

Four governors have accused the Music Copyright Society of Kenya of not paying and delaying royalties for musicians.

“Our secular and gospel singers have been leading miserable lives,” Uasin Gishu's Jackson Mandago said.

“We demand a meeting with the society to explain and show us how they have been disbursing royalties to our musicians.”

Also present were Kericho Governor Paul Chepkwony, Bomet's Joyce Laboso and Nandi's Stephen Sang.

They spoke at Kapkatet Stadium, Kericho county, during a fundraiser for seven musicians who died in a road accident at Kamara on the Nakuru-Eldoret Highway two weeks ago.

The musicians are Kenene International with his four dancers and DJ Nico.

The governors said it was unfortunate that musicians do not reap benefits from their careers.

Laboso said they will make laws to punish people who pirate music.

“We will use our assemblies to make laws to crack down on music pirates. We will make sure the fines are high to stop this menace,” she said.

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Chepkwony promised to support artistes.

“Most musicians are still poor, so we are exploring possibilities of setting aside money to support them and take their careers to the next level,” he said.

Sang said the counties will sit down and come up with ways to protect the musicians, saying they are the “greatest resources” and need to be protected at all costs.

Sonu Tanu/The Star