NONINI TERMINATES MCSK MEMBERSHIP

The godfather of Kenyan Genge music Hubert Mbuku Nakitare, alias Nonini, has terminated his Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK)  membership through a resignation letter that took effect on May 24, 2022.

The ‘Hii Barua’ hitmaker had shared it on Instagram, and it received mixed reactions after accompanying it with a touchy caption that theorised his distress of mind. “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Moving on to something that actually works.” the US-based musician cum entrepreneur wrote.

Following his exit, netizens speculated that MCSK CEO Ezekiel Mutua had something to do with it after his appointment received backlash from many musicians such as Sauti Sol, and he has weighed in on the matter, clarifying that Nonini’s tendered his resignation long before he had even joined the agency. “His (Nonini’s) request was made in February, two months before I joined MCSK,” Mutua said.

“In February 2022, Nonini applied to terminate his membership with MCSK for personal reasons, arguing that he had moved to the US and wished to join a Collective Management Organization there, and since the laws governing CMOs do not allow an artist to belong to two organizations, we found the request plausible and approved it in line with our procedures,” he added.

Nonini will no longer be entitled to remittances from the Collective Management Organisation (CMO) because he has already joined another CMO, the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), on May 26.