Kenyan CMO officials asked to step aside pending investigations

23 Sep 2020 - 12:13

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The Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO) has directed that those named in a recent forensic audit report on the operations of the country's three collective management organisations (CMOs) vacate their official positions to facilitate investigations and possible prosecutions by law enforcement agencies.

KECOBO executive director Edward Sigei. Photo: Goethe-Institut

The development was made public on 22 September in a press statement issued by KECOBO after the board held a special meeting a day earlier. The meeting was convened to determine the actions that would be taken based on the three-year forensic audit report, which according to KECOBO exposes fraudulent transactions at the Kenya Association of Music Producers (KAMP), the Performers Rights Society of Kenya (PRISK) and the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK).

KECOBO has guaranteed that the investigations will be carried out professionally and that the rights of all individuals, including the presumption of innocence, will be respected. Additionally, KECOBO said it would solicit the guidance of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions with regard to restitutive considerations, such as in cases where individuals opted to return funds and property to the organisation in question.

The KECOBO board of directors has further ordered an overhaul of the management of royalties by the CMOs, by commissioning the regulator's management team to develop by the end of October new policies and regulations to facilitate closer oversight.

“KECOBO management has been directed to issue new policies and regulations to be implemented before the new licensing period,” KECOBO chairperson Mutuma Mathiu said.

The new policies are purposed to eliminate the issues raised in the audit, including negligence, diversion of royalties, fraudulent transactions, ghost and duplicate members, non-compliance, poor corporate governance, and policy breaches, among others.

Some of the expected reforms include the provision of a new audit tool for review, management restructuring, amendment of legislation, and new election rules.

After making certain details of the report public on 8 September, KECOBO gave the CMOs a week to respond to the findings. It now says the responses were not sufficient to alter the initial conclusions of the report.

Officials from the three CMOs are yet to comment on the findings and latest directive. However, a source close to Music In Africa said the three would issue a joint statement soon.

KECOBO