EAC to support local artists

The East African Community Secretary-General, Juma Mwapachu

The East African Community Secretary-General, Juma Mwapachu, has said piracy in the music industry has now become an order of the day.

He said this over the weekend when EAC and Investment Climate Facility for Africa (ICF) signed a contract to launch a project that will be dealing with protection of the intellectual property rights and counterfeits.

Mwapachu said that one of the most affected areas is the "Bongo Flava" music because such type of music is currently loved and has conquered the music market in and outside the country.

Mwapachu said the composers and singers of "Bongo Flava" music are denied their revenues by some few people who duplicate their cassettes and sell them at cheaper prices.

He said that they are now working to establish a clear framework for protecting intellectual property rights so as to stimulate growth and innovations.

However, in order to give maximum support to ICF, a serious campaign to create public awareness will be done.

The project aims at assessing the scale of the problem within the EAC, evaluating existing policies and recomending uniform laws and enforcement mechanisms to combat the problem.