Kenyan artistes form trade union

Some of the Kenyan musicians who met and agreed to form a union to fight for artistes rights in the country. Photo/COURTESY

Nairobi’s Heron Hotel was a melodious place to be last week. More than 30 celebrated artistes gathered for a musicians’ workshop, whose end result could just change the lives of musicians around the country forever.

Veteran artistes like Juma Tutu and DK Kamau mingled freely with emerging talent like Linda Muthama and Isaac Gem of Kenge Kenge band. Despite their age difference, their purpose was the same – the establishment of a musicians union. This, interestingly, has never happened in Kenya before.

“Although there is more money in the music industry these days, many musicians still live in abject poverty. It is time that this battle was taken to the pockets,” said one of the musicians.

The musicians have already organised themselves under the banner of Kenya Musicians Association (KEMUSA), with John Katana of Them Mushrooms as the interim secretary general.

Officers from the International Federation of Musicians (FIM) facilitated the workshop. Founded in 1948, FIM is an international body representing trade unions of musicians in 65 countries across the world. Their secretariat is located in Paris, France.

The musicians also had an inspiring talk and case study from Isaac Lebogo, the secretary of the Creative Workers Union in South Africa, a member of the giant Congress of South Africa Trade Unions (COSATU).

“South African music industry is way ahead of many in Africa because our union started early. We have collective bargaining power and have a strong voice that can influence government policy in the arts,” said Isaac Lebogo.

There were also representatives from the msuicians unions in Uganda and Senegal. Because there is no union recognised by the government, piracy has thrived in Kenya. Interestingly, they say they would welcome the pirates.

“The pirates are just people looking to earn a living. They have a very good distribution channel. Bringing them on board will be better than the usual fights,” was the opinion of one of the musicians.

As they do not have collective bargaining power, there’s a big gap between what musicians are paid. Artistes at the top can be paid as much as Sh400,000 for a three-hour show, while another will only get Sh5000 performing at the same function.

“We would like to see a situation where there is some minimum pay for a performance so that everyone benefits,” said John Katana.

Broadcasters plan to emulate their South African counterparts who camped on the streets for three days to force the South African Broadcasting Corporation (the equivalent of KBC) to increase the quota of the local music that they play.

A number of government bodies and agencies attended the workshop. The Permanent Presidential Music Commission, Kenya Copyright Board (KCB) and Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) are some of the organisations that were represented.

Dr Marisela Ouma, the executive director of KCB, addressed the workshop and urged the musicians to forge forward. “You have to be able to align yourself with the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU).