Bongo star Rich Mavoko (left) when he joined Diamond Platnumz’s Wasafi Record Label. PHOTO | FILE
Rich Mavoko’s sister Wenceslaus Dokii has revealed that his brother was asked by Diamond Platnumz to pay Sh23 million so as to be allowed to terminate the contract he had with the label.
Revisiting the issue in the wake of claims that Rayvanny is also mulling an exit from the label, Mavoko’s elder sister who was at the centre of negotiations leading to her brother’s exit, revealed that they were asked to pay a compensation fee of Tsh500 million (Sh23 Million) but they stood their ground and declined.
His brother’s exit from WCB was a messy and noisy affair rather than a mutual one after he expressed discontent with his contract which he termed as exploitative.
“Walituambia tuwalipe pesa mob, nikamwambia Diamond no we can’t pay you. It was millions of money inalingana kama ya Harmonize. Nilimwambia pia Sallam (Diamond’s manager) you guys nendeni mkajipekue mjitazame tena, hicho kitu mnachokitaka is it fair?” posed Dokii who is an actress and Emcee.
Harmonize was forced to part with the same amount of money last year when he asked to leave.
He was forced to sell his three houses and a piece of land to raise the money.
The compensation was to allow him full rights ownership of songs he did under WCB.
But for Mavoko, the tussles ended up at the Tanzania Music regulatory board Basata, who helped both parties arrive at an amicable solution. Rich Mavoko left without paying anything.
However, it’s not clear if he still owns the rights to the songs he recorded under Wasafi.
Mavoko ditched WCB in 2018, just two years after he hurriedly terminated his contract with Kenyan rapper King kaka label Kaka Empire in 2016.