Why politicians may have to spend over half a million in campaigns

dennis kibet

May 1, 2017 2:30 PM

Yet another spending shock for politicians ahead of the imminent campaign season...

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Politicians will have to fork out over half a million in the campaign season after the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) tripled its tariffs for roadshows.

The new changes will see politicians pay MCSK Sh30,000 per day, which is three times more than the previous fee of Sh10,000 or a flat annual fees of Sh620,000 for truck roadshows.

The new rates were signed off by AG Prof Muigai, paving way for the rollout following the conclusion of last week’s nominations.

“The collecting of society tariffs take effect from the date of publication to the 31st December, 2018,” said Prof. Muigai in the legal notice number 57 published on April 21.

Those who fail to comply with the new rates will be slapped with a penalty equal to five per cent charge on the defaulted tariff.

Besides, the tariff is subject to an annual increment depending on the prevailing rate of inflation.

The exorbitant fees come as a yet another spending shock to politicians who are well known to use their financial muscle to outwit each other during the campaigns.

As for the Sh30,000 charge per day, a candidate who chooses to use trucks every day for the 51 days, for instance, will have to part with at least Sh1.53 million as the cost of music played during the campaign.

On the other hand, politicians who won the party nominations and have settled for non-stop campaigns for the 3 months will pay Sh2.76 million.

Also read: Regulation board reveals why it flexed its muscle on The Music Copyright Society of Kenya

The demand for copyrighted music has risen ahead of the August 8 elections and with the increased rates, attention on revenue collection will now shift to MCSK; a group accused by musicians of failing to share billions of shillings collected for copyright.

dennis kibet