The local creative sector has suffered a massive blow after the Kenya Copyright Board completely suspended the operating license of the Kenya Association of Music Producers for ninety days.
This swift regulatory action follows a thorough and intense financial audit that exposed serious corporate governance gaps and massive mismanagement of royalty funds.
Hundreds of thousands of local artists are currently staring at a very dark future as their regular financial payouts face unprecedented delays across the entire country.
According to a shocking public notice officially released by KECOBO Board Chairman Joshua Kutuny, the prominent collection body deeply breached essential parts of the Copyright Act.
Investigators shockingly discovered that over five point five million shillings meant for vulnerable rights holders was unlawfully spent on highly suspicious non-core activities.
Furthermore, the embattled organization completely failed to adhere to the strict seventy-thirty mandatory distribution model that heavily favors local musicians over administrative costs.
To prevent further looting and safeguard vulnerable artists during this turbulent suspension period, the state regulator has immediately appointed the Performing and Audio-Visual Rights Society of Kenya to collect all incoming royalties.
The safety board has firmly ordered that all newly collected monies must be strictly held in an independent trust account until all ongoing governance issues are fully resolved.
The affected producers association must now quickly submit a comprehensive corrective action plan and organize fresh internal democratic elections before its operating permit can ever be reconsidered.
This latest licensing disaster has ignited widespread public anger across various online platforms, with local musicians demanding total transparency from their leaders.
Many artists are desperately calling for criminal prosecutions against all rogue officials who continue to enrich themselves using the sweat of poor hard-working creatives.