Who will come to artistes’ rescue? Wrangles at MCSK persist as court deals Mutua a blow

The never ending tussles at the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) took a dramatic turn recently when the High Court ruled that Chief Executive Officer Ezekiel Mutua is no longer in charge.

Justice Roselyne Aburili dismissed a petition by Mutua, which had been filed as urgent, saying it lacked proper authorisation due to ongoing leadership conflicts within MCSK.

She established that Mutua, who had instructed advocate Felix Okiri to file the case in his capacity as CEO, had been terminated from his position on April 3, 2025, nearly two months before the legal proceedings were initiated.

“As at 20 May when the proceedings herein were instituted and Mutua was swearing the verifying affidavit, he was not the CEO of the company and, therefore, he had no authority to instruct an advocate to institute suit on behalf of the company,” Justice Aburili ruled.

The struggles date back to last year when artists accused the MCSK boss of embezzling their funds.

Early last year,  Genge maestro Nonini took to social media to say that they were being given a paltry Sh16,000 while a huge chunk of the money made by artistes’ royalties is spent on salaries, for instance.

From the document shared by Nonini, MCSK appeared to have collected Sh110 million and only shared out Sh10 million to Kenyan artists.

From the same breakdown, it appeared Sh57 million was spend on salaries and Sh7 million on the Board.

“An employee has full medical cover while an artist cannot even afford outpatient pekee! You collect 109 million, pay staff 57 million, and distribute 10 million to over 16,000 Musicians. SMH!” Nonini expressed his frustration.

The leadership wrangles that were persistent last year culminated in the postponement of its elections as a section of artists continued to seek the ouster of Mutua and the MCSK Board chairperson Lazarus Muli.

The artists went ahead and got a court order that barred the MCSK elections, which had been scheduled for late August.

The members claimed that Muli had already exceeded his term limit of six years. However, an extraordinary meeting held at Maanzoni on April 28 last year rewarded him an extension.

There has also been a supremacy battle between Mutua and the Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO) CEO Joshua Kutuny.

Kutuny, however, defended himself, saying that they do not interfere with internal affairs of collective management organizations.

Fast forward, in mid-last month, a national newspaper had a paid up advert that revealed Mutua had been sacked after his contract was terminated.

The exposed the nasty fights over the control of musicians’ royalties, which is a cash cow as MCSK is estimated to be collecting an average of  Sh200 million annually.

The notice was signed by Muli but the other faction, led by Ephantus Wahome, a gospel artist who also lays a claim to the chairmanship role, refuted the statement, saying Mutua is still at the helm of the society.

Muli, had on behalf of the “board”, accused Mutua of refusing to surrender MCSK’s Toyota Prado TX procured on a loan and all official social media accounts’ credentials.

In a rebuttal, Wahome claimed the “fake dismissal notice” was a smear campaign stemming from a disputed Sh200 million payout to former directors, which Mutua refused to authorize.

Mutua and Muli were buddies when the former was appointed CEO in 2022, but things changed after the latter claimed that Mutua was undermining the MCSK Board.

It is also alleged that Mutua’s refusal to proceed on paid leave and backing an attempt by some MCSK officials to initiate changes in the company’s directorship is what triggered the fallout.

In February last year, MCSK members held an Extraordinary General Meeting at Maanzoni Lodge in Machakos and resolved to send the current directors on retirement and that the election of new ones be conducted in April of last year; however, the court suspended the elections until August after a section of members at MCSK filed a petition.

Again, the elections did not take place in August as directed by the court, as another member sought orders to suspend the polls.

During the same period, a faction of MCSK members conducted another extraordinary meeting, and a caretaker of directors was chosen.

Records at the Business Registration Service lists the new MCSK directors as Victor Wangila Wambeo, Bramwel Nabwela Barasa, Peter Siku Karisa, Florence Munanye, Ephantus Wahome Kamau, Pamela Mayeku Binale, Tom Mboya Kodiyo, George Maina Wahome, and Colnerious Macharia Gichuke. Jasper Odhiambo Lubeto is the Company Secretary.

The Muli-led faction wrote to the Business Registration Service, accusing the Registrar of Companies of colluding with the disgruntled.

“We now write to complain against the developments and to ask you to correct the records. For avoidance of doubt, the High Court issued an order suspending the election,” the Muli-led faction letter read in part.

The High Court barred the new faction from taking over and implementing the resolutions of the caretaker.

While the fight for control intensified among the MCSK members, the Muli-led faction accused Mutua of taking sides by embracing the barred caretaker board of directors.

Muli accused Mutua and Wahome of misleading the public that Mutua is still the MCSK chief executive officer by using the society’s official social media accounts, and that he has refused to surrender.

“He also opened a new account at Equity Bank and a new Safaricom Pay Bill after we had him removed as a signatory to all MCSK accounts. Together with the caretaker directors, they have also engaged Techsavanna Company Limited to create a new licensing system to divert the collection of royalties. We have written to Equity Bank, the Director of Criminal Investigations, Safaricom, and the Communication Authority of Kenya, notifying them of the matter,” Muli claimed previously.

The fight culminated in April as the MCSK Board sent a termination letter to Mutua, accusing him of failing to appear for a disciplinary committee over insubordination and alleged misconduct.

This, even after the same board had previously directed him to proceed on annual leave and get back next month.

“Given the seriousness of the matter and the charges levelled against you, the decision has been made to terminate your employment because of your gross misconduct. You failed, ignored, and/or refused to respond to the notice to show because the letter was issued to you on 01 April 2025. And you failed to attend the disciplinary hearing to respond to the charges levelled against you for conduct and actions warranting disciplinary proceedings. Your final payment of salary shall be made on 30th April, 2025. You have the right to appeal, and the above may be revoked or varied if your appeal is successful,” the termination letter stated.