The Departmental Committee on Sports and Culture Chaired by Hon. Daniel Wanyama grilled the Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mr. Edward  Sigei and Performers Rights Society of Kenya (PRISK) CEO Dr. Joseph Njagih over claims that the two were responsible for the withdrawal of a case in court that saw the parties awarded Kshs 67 million for artist royalties lose the money.

It is also alleged that the two CEOs had entered into an agreement with Royal Media Services (RMS)  without the knowledge of the boards of Directors of both organisations.

The meeting followed a question by Member for Kirinyaga County Hon. Jane Njeri. Hon. Njeri, a former performing artist, raised the question on the Floor of the House.

“I would like to ask the Committee on Sports and Culture to investigate the dealings of the parties to find out if there was any collusion that led to artists losing their Royalties. I also would like to understand the motive behind the withdrawal of this case when the court had already awarded the artists Kshs 67 million.” Hon. Njeri said.

Former PRISK chairman Mr Ephantus Kamau in his submission alleged that the CEO’s of the two bodies withdrew the case from court and signed an agreement termed ‘Debt Retirement’ with RMS without the knowledge of the respective boards. He further alleged that any attempts to intervene saw threats directed at him.

The Kenya Association of Music Producers (KAMP) CEO Mr. Maurice Okoth informed the Committee that in the meeting following the signing of the agreement, none of the six Directors were aware of the agreement and only learnt of it after it had been signed. The Board’s several invitations to the CEOs to address the matter before them were all ignored without  apologies given.

The MCSK CEO Dr. Ezekiel Mutua claimed that the regulator KECOBO was frustrating the entities when it came to awarding them licenses. He accused the CEO of underhand dealings stating that the CEO demanded Kshs 5 million of backpay on top of the demand for him to be made a signatory to the institutions’ accounts. 

KECOBO CEO Mr. Sigei on his part told the Committee that it was the first time that he was coming across the submission and thus needed more time to look into the matter.

The Committee Chair Hon. Wanyama assured all the parties involved that the Committee would  look into the matter extensively before presenting their findings to the House for debate. 

“This Committee will do what is supposed to be done to clean up the music industry and I want to guarantee you that those found culpable of any wrongdoing will be brought to book," stated Hon. Wanyama