The Kenyan creative industry is rife with talent and skill, from music, to writing, to acting, to art and design, to marketing, to fashion and more – there’s no shortage of genius. With the high rates of unemployment plaguing the country, people have opted to use their talents and abilities to make an honest living, and as such, have massively contributed to the growth of the creative economy by introducing fresh, innovative and entertaining ideas and content. However, this creative richness is haunted by the disturbing wails of exploited creatives.
Cases of financial exploitation in the industry have risen significantly over the last decade. This is not to say they have not existed before, but with the internet and social media having become so easily accessible now, victims have found platforms for speaking out against the injustices they face in the line of duty, financial exploitation being one of the most recurrent. Many creatives have reported instances of late payment for their timely-delivered works, extending years, half payments which have also been delayed over extended periods of time, or no pay at all. Often, their polite requests and reminders for payments have been met with contempt, disrespect, condescending attitudes and lies. Explanations for the delays are vague and never communicated beforehand, highly inconveniencing the creatives and making it difficult for them to fulfil their own financial obligations. The continuous failure to pay them (on time) forces them into unfavourable working environments where, due to lack of money, they face challenges like lack of adequate nourishment, lack of transportation to and from work, inability to buy gadgets, tools and equipment they may need for their work, and mental stress due to constrained finances. These challenges, accumulated, bring about debilitating sickness and mental illnesses like depression and anxiety disorders, and without enough pay or no pay at all, they lack access to medical care causing their health and work to deteriorate. Their poor health may then lead to absenteeism or lack of productivity at work and they may eventually lose their jobs.
In February 2018, reports of financial abuse in the Kenyan modelling industry rocked social media pages for days. Aggrieved models, stylists, photographers and make-up artists shared their unfortunate experiences and openly called out the agencies and individuals that withheld their dues for months, and even years, on end. Couture Africa, a fashion magazine run by Olive Gachara, was one of the companies on the spot for their exploitative work practices. Creatives who were working or had worked with the magazine accused them of chronic payment delays stretching over months and years while still expected to work.
“She (Olive) doesn’t pay, delays to pay and sometimes pays less than agreed amount,” a frustrated creative spoke, not just for themself but also for the many other creatives who had the same experience with Ms. Gachara.
They shared stories of starvation at work, lack of transportation, and having to use their own monies to cater for expenses that should have been met by the magazine, and not getting reimbursed. Demands for what they were owed fell on deaf ears and unanswered emails. One creative claimed to be owed an excess of Ksh 400,000 since 2015. Similar allegations were made against True Love (East Africa) and Drum magazines, both owned by Carole Mandi, but she has never directly addressed the claims. Darling hair brand and Samantha Bridal were also recipients of harsh criticism from the models, make-up artists and photographers they owed.
Creatives in the film industry, too, have for a long time gotten the short end of the stick and rarely enjoyed the fruits of their hard work. Actors, actresses, screenwriters, producers, directors and other film crew have repeatedly aired their grievances against exploitative companies, agencies and individuals in the film sector that take advantage of them. They have complained of consistent lack of pay in the industry, poor pay rates, and delays lasting months and years, long after the shows they have worked on have aired.
“Some productions have you slaving all day, and all night in some cases, and you end up with peanuts or nothing,” an irate actress says. “You work every day of the year only to get paid once in that year, or never. We are suffering when producers and production houses are living large.”
Media Vision Limited’s producer Joseph Mucheru has been publicly called out for eating life with a big spoon while, with the same mouth, arrogantly refusing to pay actors, actresses and film crew for their Makavazi show years after airing.
“Dorothy Ghettuba and Ndanu Kilonzo of Spielworks Media have snaked us on payments,” another creative confessed. “We shot AMOF movies in 2014 and they delayed our payments for months. Much later, Dorothy arrived in a brand-new BMW and paid us our monies, but the amounts were far much less than what was agreed in the contracts. No explanations were given and we never received our balances. I’m pretty sure they pocketed our money.”
Creatives who’ve worked with Ginger Ink Films and their partner One Fine Day Films have many times expressed dissatisfaction for their meager rates of Khs 1,500 per day on top of an overall toxic work culture which includes racial discrimination, verbal abuse, overwork and harassment. The two production companies have been known to fly in foreign “mentors” and paying them handsomely for the same roles as Kenyan actors, who receive very little pay or none at all for those very roles. An actor who has worked with both production houses for years revealed that they term film projects as “training initiatives” or “workshops” with “low budgets” so the staff and crew don’t negotiate for better rates.
“They are scammers,” he said with disappointment. “They source funding from god-knows-where then use our talented creatives to make awesome projects under the guise of “workshops” and “training” and keep the bucks and profits to themselves.”
David Sanders, owner of the creative agency Mandala Limited, is frequently mentioned by creatives in the film business whenever conversations on financial exploitation come up.
“David Sanders treats his staff like trash,” says one of his employees, clearly disgusted by the man’s poor work ethics and unpleasant personality. “During major projects he hires producers or directors from abroad citing lack of experience in Kenya. While most of his Kenyan staff earn less than Khs 50,000, he pays the foreigners figures amounting to Khs 500,000 and even caters for their accommodation and transport. Meanwhile, the rest of us have to sort that out for ourselves with our own money, which we do not have because he pays us peanuts. When you ask for a salary increment, he says, “I am not your father and I did not come here to feed families.” He currently owes staff a lot of money. He gets paid by clients but uses the money for personal gains. He promises cash every week but never answers your calls. He is living well while those who work for him can barely pay their rent or buy food.”
Many artists who’ve worked under Stuart Nash, the current artistic director at Nairobi Performing Arts Studio and former artistic director of Kenya National Theatre, agree that he has cultivated and sustained an abusive work environment where they have experienced verbal abuse, racial bias and underpayment, though he has denied these claims.
Creatives have decried the peculiarity of “foreign investors” occupying some of the most important positions in the Kenyan film industry, hoarding majority of the profits, exploiting, harassing and abusing local talents, leaving no room for Kenyan creatives to tell and create their own Kenyan stories. Even more horrifying is that they are hardly ever held accountable by bodies of authority like the Kenya Film Commission, which instead of defending the welfare, dignity and talents of creatives in the industry, turn a blind eye to their plight and allow these exploitative individuals and agencies to run the show without consequence.
Payment in “exposure”, or PIE, is one of the top five enemies of every hard-working creative worth their salt. Through “exposure”, the employer essentially asks the creative to offer their work for free and see it as an opportunity to get more visibility that would lead to fame or more future sales. It has been expressed time and again that “exposure” neither feeds the artist nor pays their bills. “Exposure” doesn’t buy equipment and tools they need to create their work. PIE perpetuates the misconception that artists aren’t professionals who must be paid, hence undermining their work and undervaluing their monetary worth. Artists use their time, imagination, talents, skills, experience, knowledge, and sometimes go through intense mental pressure to produce works of art that would enthrall, entertain, educate, uplift, and even hugely profit the agencies and companies that use their craft. PIE is a commonly used currency in Kenya’s creative economy. Big agencies and companies with money to pay creatives choose to recruit their services for free instead, with the manipulative promise of “exposure”. In these exploitative cases, the companies insinuate that the creative needs them more than they need the creative, yet, it is the creative’s work that will amass them profits. It’s unfortunate that these companies, even with the knowledge that creatives are invaluable to them, do little to nothing to compensate them for their sweat.
Artcaffe Kenya, a popular restaurant and social hub in Nairobi, came under fire in 2018 when they rolled out a competition for designing their takeaway coffee mug where the winning artwork would be paid, not with money, but with “exposure” and a free supply of coffee for a stipulated duration of time. Enraged creatives banded together to reject the ridiculous terms of the competition and Artcaffe had to revise the prizes to include money.
Recently, Cadbury Dairy Milk Kenya unveiled a campaign dubbed “In Our Own Words” aimed at creating contemporary Kenyan stories that Kenyan children could relate to, to be published on their website and made available for everyone to download. They called on writers to submit short stories for the campaign, but as was stated in their terms and conditions, the writers would not be paid for their stories, neither would they be acknowledged as story authors, and Cadbury would retain rights to all the stories. As expected, creatives opposed the oppressive conditions of the campaign but Cadbury has since remained silent and maintained the unfair terms of use.
Exploitation of creatives in marketing agencies is just as rampant. Scores of creatives complain of non-payments after delivering work as agreed and receiving rude responses from the agencies when they demand for what is rightfully theirs. In fact, marketing agencies are known to “blacklist” creatives who’re bold enough to challenge their exploitative ways to prevent them from getting future jobs with other agencies.
A top Kenyan artist, Nonini?, reported that Scanad Africa and Safaricom used a lyric from his Manzi Wa Nairobi song to advertise a product and never paid him. Veteran gospel musician Reuben Kigame also openly criticised Safaricom for using his music and not paying fairly for it.
“…Safaricom makes millions from my music but pays me peanuts after sharing more of my money with go-between groups that will not even give statements for their monthly incomes.”
He also exposed Radio Citizen for the same:
“I developed some exceptional jingles for Radio Citizen. They just received them and then they went quiet. Forever…I did the jingles for the station when they were starting 20 years ago, and despite using them for several years, I never received a single cent from Royal Media.”
Aside from companies using songs and tunes to sell their products and not paying the musicians, directors from the Music Copyright Society of Kenya, Performers Rights Society of Kenya and Kenya Association of Music Producers squander artists’ money and swim in riches meant for the artists while the artists themselves struggle to afford basic meals.
There is an urgent need for strong unions for artists by artists to be formed, which would enforce fair working conditions, rate cards and other regulations that would protect creatives and their work. Creatives should have access to legal counsel before signing contracts they don’t fully understand, and information on Intellectual Property and where and how to register for trademarks, patents, copyrights, industrial designs, among others, shared widely to protect their innovative and creative capacities.
Likarion Wainaina, a Kenyan director and cinematographer who directed the internationally acclaimed and award-winning film Supa Modo, learnt the hard way the repercussions of signing away rights to one’s work when he struggled to pay his rent, feed himself, and even travel, when Supa Modo was making millions.
“Let me first say that I do not own Supa Modo,” he started in an emotional Facebook post dated June 2020. “Supa Modo is not my film, at least it no longer is, it is a film that I wrote (the story) and directed. I signed off all the rights to it. IP rights, remake rights, adaptation rights everything. No one forced me to do it, no one tricked me into it. I went in knowing full well what lies ahead…Supa Modo is killing it in the Box Office and bringing in loads of cash…I do not receive any part of those millions.”
Inasmuch as he willfully gave away rights to his work, his tale brings to light the underhandedness of the production houses – One Fine Day Films and Ginger Ink Films – to draft a skewed contract with such exploitative terms where they sought to profit from the creative’s skills and talents while the creative got nothing. For this, Likarion Wainaina said: “Having a project that doesn’t trickle down to pay the artist who helped make it is what hurts me.”