The Director General E-Citizen Ambassador Isaac John Ochieng (seated left) and KECOBO's Acting CEO George Nyakweba signs the Service Level Agreement to pave the way for migration of royalty administration to E-Citizen platform./HANDOUTThe Performing and Audio-Visual Rights Society of Kenya (PAVRISK) has fully implemented the Government directive requiring Collective Management Organization (CMOs) to integrate its royalty collection and distribution processes into the e-Citizen platform.
The migration is the culmination of a presidential directive requiring Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO), the regulator in the copyright sector, to roll out the digitisation of collection and distribution of royalties through the E-Citizen platform.
This forms part of the government's broader digital transformation agenda aimed at improving accountability, transparency, and efficiency in the administration of copyright royalties.
It marks a notable milestone in the management of the royalties collected on behalf of artists and will guarantee the requirement that at least 70% of royalties collected go directly to rightholders.
The transition follows the signing of a Service Level Agreement in June this year, between PAVRISK and the Directorate of E-Citizen, paving the way for the collection of royalties through the government's digital platform.
The signing of the agreement was presided over by Principal Secretaries Dr Belio Kipsang of the State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services and Fikirini Jacobs of the State Department for Youth Affairs, and Creative Economy.
KECOBO Chairman Joshua Kutuny, the board's Acting Executive Director George Nyakweba and PAVRISK Chairman Edwardo Waigwa witnessed the signing.
PAVRISK Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mr. Joseph Njagih said the transition is a major milestone for the country's creative industry, saying the digital platform is designed to strengthen accountability while making copyright administration more efficient.
“This is a major milestone for Kenya's creative industry. The new platform will ensure transparency, reduce revenue leakages, streamline collections, and facilitate more efficient distribution of royalties to copyright holders,” Njagih said.
KECOBO's licensing framework requires licensed CMOs to use a government - approved ICT system for collections, licensing, media monitoring, and distribution of royalties.
The Board has also stipulated that the required 70 percent share of royalties be ring-fenced for creators. PAVRISK has already demonstrated increased royalty distribution to creators.
At its September 2026 Annual Generating Meeting (AGM), the Society distributed Sh43.6 million to its members, nearly double the more than Sh24 million, it was distributed in the previous year.
The increased distribution comes at the time PAVRISK is working on mechanism to strengthen its systems for identifying rights holders, tracking the use of creative works and ensuring that royalties collected on behalf of members reach the rightful beneficiaries.
The CEO said the operationalisation of the system marks an important step in the digital transformation of collective rights management in Kenya and reinforces PAVRISK's commitment to building a modern, transparent, and creator-centred royalty administration system.
He called on all musicians, performers, producers, audio-visual rights holders, users of copyrighted works, and other stakeholders in the creative industry to embrace the e-Citizen platform and complete the necessary registration and licensing requirements.
Njagih said all stakeholders and users of copyrighted works are required to obtain the Unified Copyright Licence (UCL) and comply with all applicable copyright licensing requirements through the designated e-Citizen platform.
"Stakeholders are therefore urged to access the official PAVRISK e-Citizen portal at: https://pavrisk.or.ke/ecitizen and complete the licensing process through the PAVRISK service," the CEO added.
For Kenya's creative community, PAVRISK says the message is clear: creators should register their works, rights holders should ensure their information is up to date, and users of copyrighted works should obtain the requisite licences through the e-Citizen platform.
The Society says the ultimate objective is to build a royalty administration system that is transparent, accountable, efficient and responsive to the interests of the creators whose works drive Kenya's growing creative economy.
