Kenyan authorities uncover royalty theft
Kenyan authorities have ordered board members of the country’s music copyright collectors to step aside after discovering alleged fraud and misuse of artists’ royalties.
Directors of the Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO) have also submitted the report of a three-year audit to law enforcement for further investigation.
Responses from the collective management organisations (CMOs), including the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK), Performers Rights Society of Kenya (PRISK) and Kenya Association of Music Producers (KAMP), “were not sufficient” to change the findings of an earlier draft report, the board said.
The wrongdoing identified by KECOBO’s report include the “diversion of royalties” from artists and suspected fraudulent transactions.
The report also found “poor corporate governance” and negligence in the management of assets.
According to KECOBO, the CMOs, kept “ghost” and duplicate members on their books and failed to keep proper records.
The board will now press ahead with reforms of Kenya’s music copyright system, it added, including mandatory, independent audits of CMOs every three years.
More detailed plans for the policy reforms will be announced by the end of October, the board pledged.
Staff and CMO board members identified in association with the alleged wrongdoing have been ordered to stand down while police investigations are ongoing.
“The investigations and any prosecutions will be conducted in a professional manner, the rights of all individuals, including the presumption of innocence, will be respected and the guidance of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions will be sought in respect of restitutive considerations, such as where individuals opt to return funds and property of the organisation in question,” the statement said.
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