Murkomen: Kenya paid Ksh.323M for bid to host African Grammys hub

Outgoing Cabinet Secretary for Youth, Creative Economy and Sports, Kipchumba Murkomen, said on Thursday Kenya has paid $2,500,000 (about Ksh.323,225,000) for its bid to host the Grammy Awards Africa Academy Centre.

Murkomen said his ministry signed an agreement with the Grammy Global Ventures (GGV), the international arm of the Recording Academy, on September 25, 2023.

The Recording Academy is a U.S. academic association of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals, headquartered in Santa Monica, California.

The academy presents the famous annual Grammy Awards in recognition of achievements in the music industry and is also behind the Grammy Museum, a non-profit aimed at preserving and educating about music history and significance.

According to Murkomen, the Africa Academy entails a headquarters and centres where Grammy-branded events will be held in the region.

He said Rwanda, Nigeria, and South Africa also signed MoUs and agreements for consideration in implementing it as founder members.

“We have met all our financial obligations as stated in the agreement by making the fourth and final instalment of the net fee of USD 2,500,000 this month. As it stands, we are in pole position to host the Academy,” the minister said.

Murkomen’s statement contrasts with President William Ruto's, who just over a week ago said Kenya had paid Ksh.500 million for the African Grammys hub.

“We have already paid the Ksh.500 million. This is not something we are planning to do; it’s already done,” President Ruto told a town hall in Nairobi on December 9.

“I’m confident that the gentleman here from the Grammys can confirm that we’re on the right track to securing Kenya’s position in this exciting initiative.”

But on Thursday, Murkomen said the Kenya shilling was weaker against the U.S. dollar at the time of signing the agreement.

“We saved a lot of money in subsequent instalments after the Kenya shilling gained strength this year,” the CS, whom Ruto has since reassigned to the Interior Ministry, said.

At least two founding members have to pay USD 2,500,000 for the Africa Academy to be realised, according to Murkomen, which will be used to set up headquarters in the initial stages.

“If more than 2 founding members pay the fee, GGV will use the excess money equally in the founding member countries to stage Grammy events,” he said, adding that Kenya seeks to host the project at the Konza Technopolis.

Murkomen said Kenyan music creators are poised to benefit from the Recording Academy's resources and networks if the project sails through, while “enhancing the visibility of our artistic scene and positioning our country as the epicentre of entertainment in Africa.” 

At this year’s Grammy Awards in February, the Recording Academy awarded the inaugural Best African Music Performance Grammy trophy, a category introduced last year to recognise “recordings that utilize unique local expressions from across the African continent, highlighting regional melodic, harmonic and rhythmic musical traditions.”

This was amid criticism against the Academy for what has been widely perceived as a side-lining of African artists in the 66-year-old awards.

The Africa Academy mirrors the Latin Recording Academy, which has since 2000 presented the Latin Grammy Awards to recognise achievements in the Latin music industry for works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese.

In 2023, the Latin Grammy Awards were hosted in Seville, Spain, marking the first time the event was held outside the U.S.