This archive report was first published on 30 August 2019.
Published on August 30, 2019, hoteliers in Kenya are demanding transparency in music royalties collected by the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK).
The Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers and the Pubs, Entertainment and Restaurants Association of Kenya (PERAK) claim that despite paying license fees to MCSK, their establishments are still raided and artistes not getting their dues.
PERAK Chairman Frank Mbogo stated, 'We are not talking about 200m, we are talking about over a billion. They have been collecting money for the last 10 years….'
The hoteliers are accusing MCSK of using police officers to demand payments, leading to unwarranted arrests, confiscation, and destruction of their equipment.
Following a recent controversy where MCSK remitted Ksh.2,500 to various artistes, claiming that most of what they had collected was taken up by operational costs, President Uhuru Kenyatta directed the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the anti-corruption agency to probe MCSK.
