The Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) CEO Ezekiel Mutua has intimated on the challenges he was forced to face during his tenure at the helm of the Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB).
Owing to his staunch religious values, Mutua says that he was met with immense criticism even from his internal professional circles as he banned a good number of advertisements and content online.
According to Mutua, he still maintained uncompromising principles which he says played a pivotal role in shielding society from consuming harmful content online.
“Initially it was a sarcastic comment, a mockery but I embraced it because when I joined KFCB and we banned some beer adverts and stuff like that. People were like who is this?,” he posed while speaking on Citizen TV on Sunday.
“They thought I was coming too heavy on regulation but really it was for the good of our country to protect our children from exposure to harmful content.”
His main contention, Mutua added, was to restrict harmful content aired on watershed hours an initiative which saw him being baptized the name “Kenya’s moral cop”.
Watershed is between 5 am to 10 pm where all programmes that air during the period are supposed to be suitable for family viewing.
“A lot of people misunderstood it, there were a lot of negative comments in the media, I was trolled on social media but I embraced it. It was supposed to paint me as intolerant and too religious but we did the job and I’m happy we got accolades.”
He maintained that he will always remain firm in maintaining his faith and his principles despite working in a harsh marketplace that may seduce him to bend a few rules.
“My faith is a lifestyle, I have been born again most of my life so when I got there I came from a background where I had practiced the same,” said Mutua.
Mutua was ousted from office on August 6, 2021, in an unceremonious exit after serving in the film classification body for 2 three-year terms, since 2015.
He was often wrangled in fights with Kenyan content creators, who frequently complained about board censorship.
He was appointed to his MCSK role on March 25, 2022.
