By Khalifa Hemed
Published February 7, 2019
In a bizarre turn of events that challenges the definition of intellectual property rights as the exclusive entitlement to use one’s own ideas or heritage without competition, the national anthem of the Republic of Kenya has been stolen. Someone has not only stolen the song that unites people of diverse languages, creeds, colours and cultures under a single nation known as Kenya but is also forcing money out of these owners of the unifying chorus should they want to listen to their own creation online.
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A channel on YouTube known as 2nacheki has shocked Kenyans by revealing that they can no longer listen to what they have considered as their national anthem since 1963 without paying royalty to a company in Britain that claims to own copyright to the Ee Mungu nguvu yetu patriotic tune that is homegrown.
De Wolfe Music, the company 2nacheki says claims to hold copyright to the musical arrangement of Kenya’s national anthem, is British and not African.
So why should we be concerned about a British company’s claim on an African song? A song that was commissioned by Kenya’s founding President, Jomo Kenyatta, and created by music experts under the supervision of Thomas Joseph Odhiambo Mboya, Kenya’s first constitutional affairs minister, in 1963?
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Kenyan Anthem Commission (KAC)–that comprised Graham Hyslop (Inspector of Music and Drama for Kenya’s Ministry of Education), George Zenoga Zake (Ugandan born music teacher at St Paul’s Primary School in Nairobi’s Mbotela Estate), Washington Omondi (then a recent graduate from Edinburg University in Scotland), Peter Kibukosya (a music teacher at Eregi Teachers College in western Kenya), and The Right Rev Thomas Johnson Kuto Kalume (a music teacher at St Paul’s Theological College in central Kenya)–is the local outfit that wrote the melodious national anthem that has become the bone of contention between Kenya and De Wolfe.
Could Meza Maroa Galana, the local folk musician whose Pokomo lullaby tune was adapted by the KAC, have been British? Could the British have paid for the work of the KAC, especially the music arrangement De Wolfe claims to own?
Tech companies like Google and Facebook caution against people claiming to register copyrighted (exclusive legal right given to the originator of an idea to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material), patented (a licence conferring a right or title for the sole right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention) or trademarked (a symbol legally registered to represent a company or product) names and brands warning that any user will lose such ownership. YouTube is owned by Google that now operates under the umbrella of Alphabet. Now YouTube is being drawn into controversy over Kenya’s national anthem.
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It seems international (read western) laws are being used by western entities to stake claim on what they desire but have played no part in creating. Walt Disney Company, a United States of America-registered company holds a trademark on the Kenyan Kiswahili phrase, Hakuna Matata (all’s well); Kikoy Company, a British entity, unsuccessfully tried to trademark the kikoi cotton fabric; while a Japanese company patented Kenya’s kiondo basket for commercial exploitation.
As if jolted from slumber by 2nacheki’s discovery of De Wolfe Music’s claim on Kenya’s national song in a video 2nacheki had uploaded on YouTube, the country, through Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO), says De Wolfe cannot own Kenya’s national anthem.
Must developing nations patent, trademark or copyright their unique symbols of nationhood–national anthems, national flags, loyalty pledges, coats of arms, mottos–for their intellectual property rights to be recognised and respected? A people’s heritage should be sacrosanct.
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At this juncture we may as well mention some of Kenya’s symbols of heritage and national pride before someone in a western capital grabs them.:
1. Black, Red, Green and White Flag
Black is the colour of Kenyans; red stands for the blood Kenyans shed in the struggle for political independence from the British; green represents agriculture and food security; while white symbolises peace and stability in Kenya. The two crossed spears and shield in the middle of the flag represent a people ready to defend their country against any aggression.
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2. The National Anthem in Kiswahili and English is a prayer to God and a clarion call to all Kenyans to rise up and develop their country for the good of all people within the borders of Kenya.
I. Ee Mungu nguvu yetu
Ilete baraka kwetu
Haki iwe ngao na mlinzi
Natukae na undugu
Amani na uhuru
Raha tupate na ustawi.
II. Amkeni ndugu zetu
Tufanye sote bidii
Nasi tujitoe kwa nguvu
Nchi yetu ya Kenya
Tunayoipenda
Tuwe tayari kuilinda
III. Natujenge taifa letu
Ee, ndio wajibu wetu
Kenya istahili heshima
Tuungane mikono
Pamoja kazini
Kila siku tuwe na shukrani
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3. The Coat of Arms is a visual representation of the national flag and national anthem. It stands for national identity.
4. The Loyalty Pledge summarises the message of the flag and the national anthem in poetry.
I pledge my loyalty to the President and Nation of Kenya
My readiness and duty to defend the flag of our Republic
My life, strength and service in the task of nation building
In the living spirit embodied in our National motto ‘Harambee’
and perpetuated in the Nyayo philosophy of Peace, Love and Unity.
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