A dispute over the management of artists’ royalties has intensified, sparked by a document circulated on social media suggesting that a substantial portion of funds collected by the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) was allocated to staff salaries rather than artists.
The document, shared by genge musician Nonini, claimed that out of the Ksh109 million collected by MCSK, Ksh57 million was earmarked for salaries, leaving only Ksh10.5 million for artist distribution.
However, MCSK CEO Ezekiel Mutua has denounced the document as fake. In a post on his verified social media account, Mutua accused Nonini of misappropriating musicians’ funds during his tenure as a director of the Performers Rights Society of Kenya (PRISK).
Mutua asserted that an ongoing investigation by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) would lead to Nonini’s arrest and prosecution.
Mutua also claimed that the document shared by Nonini was manipulated from the MUPAKE accounts of 2017-2019 and challenged him to take the matter to the police if it was authentic. He argued that the document was evidence of Nonini’s past embezzlement of artists’ money.
