This archive report was first published on 19 June 2020.
President Uhuru Kenyatta's efforts to transform Kenya's cultural industry have been overshadowed by two traumatic events in the past few months. The recent death of Abenny Jachiga, an ohangla singer from Kisumu County, has been followed by the April 10 death of Kenyan writer Prof Ken Walibora.
Walibora's death was met with a lack of media attention, and when it was reported, the focus was on the writer's dispute with his publisher over royalty payments. The media's skewed reporting has made it difficult for the President to address the issues facing Kenyan writers.
The Kenyan publishing industry is plagued by exploitation and inhumanity, with writers facing poverty and financial struggles. The royalty rate for book sales is as low as 8%, but this rate is rarely paid to writers. In fact, many writers have reported not receiving any payment at all.
Even the country's founding father, Jomo Kenyatta, struggled with poverty after publishing his book 'Facing Mount Kenya' in 1938. The book's royalty payments were barely enough to sustain him, and he returned to Kenya in 1946 with weak financial circumstances.
President Uhuru Kenyatta should intervene in the publishing industry to address the exploitation of Kenyan writers. The industry's argument that publishing is a business and that they cannot risk taking on a product that won't sell is contradicted by the fact that publishers accept manuscripts with the intention of selling them.
Many Kenyan writers are unaware of the number of copies of their books that are printed, and they are not informed when additional copies are run. The Kenya Publishers Association relies on TV to push the narrative that publishers do not pay writers due to piracy, but this is an inaccurate claim.
Kenyan writers are partly to blame for their own exploitation, with some assuming that social media and personal connections with bookshop attendants are more important than the author-publisher contract. The Kenya Writers' Guild, formed in 2014, has a limited framework and has not been effective in addressing the issues facing writers.
President Uhuru Kenyatta should listen to the cry of the Kenyan writer and explore the uncharted territory of the publishing industry. Anonymous surveys can be conducted to investigate the financial relationship between writers and publishers, and the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Heritage can play a role in addressing the issues facing Kenyan writers.
