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CMOs demand inclusion in Sh100 million stimulus package


Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) are demanding to be included in the distribution of the Sh100 million stimulus package offered to artistes by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK), Kenya Association of Music Producers (KAMP) and Performance Rights Society of Kenya (PRISK) said they are better placed to distribute the funds to artistes who are their members. 

On Monday, Sports, Culture and Heritage CS Amina Mohammed unveiled the three-month ‘Together At Home’ campaign targeting more than 200,000 vulnerable artistes, actors and musicians.

CS Amina noted that artists drawn from different sectors of the creative industry would be required to work on messaging on Covid-19 awareness to earn the stimulus package cash.

They would be required to produce works that entertain and educated Kenyans on the safety and precautions to curb the spread of Covid-19 to be eligible for the Sh100 million.

“Taking to account the number of artistes in the country, giving cash handouts would have been ineffective in cushioning households,” Amina noted.

She states that supervision and coordination in implementing the programme and distributing the funds would be undertaken by various government agencies in her docket.

However, MCSK, PRISK and KAMP lamented that they have been left out in the implementation of the program.

Speaking in one voice, the CMOs are now demanding the CS Amina includes them in the program, arguing that they are the only bodies with an authentic data base of local artistes.

“We the collective management organizations have the data, now when they left us out we are not sure how they are going to reach out to those musicians and actors in Kenya.

“All we are saying as CMOs is for this thing to be done in the best way, so that at least every musician and actor get their rightful share then the best way to go is through the CMOs,”  PRISK chairman Ephantus Wahome said.

In April MCSK paid Sh34 million to its 14,000 registered members as royalties while PRISK distributed Sh14.7 million.