Battle of choirs: Sakaja fails to pay top winners

 

For two years now, Nairobi County has been hosting a competition dubbed the Battle of Choirs every Easter holiday, not only to entertain city residents but also to award the winners afterwards.

The competition was initiated by Governor Johnson Sakaja promising that the event was also to evoke the Easter holiday mood in the city.

The ultimate prize for the winning choir is Sh2 million, Sh1 million for the first runners-up, and Sh500,000 for the second runners-up, all sponsored by the office of the governor.

But the winners and judges of the 2024 competition now claim they are yet to receive the rewards, more than ten months after the event was held.

Last year, the winners were PCEA Kahawa Farmers Choir followed by St Peters Clavers Church and Ngomongo Ministries SDA church was third placed.

The three choirs now claim that after the event that took place between March 31 to April 1, 2024, they were never rewarded.

On January 9, 2025, the music directors from the three churches wrote a joint letter to the governor seeking to understand what could have caused the delays and why they have never received any communication.

“Our church management and members are inquiring about the disbursement of the awards as we have not received any communication regarding the payment,” the letter reads in part.

“We trust that this award was part of the commitment made to the winners of the competition. As directors of these churches, we kindly request that the award amounts be honoured and released,” they added

The choir directors said this will not only maintain the integrity of the competition but also protect the image of Nairobi County in its support of the cultural community events.

“We trust that your office will prioritise this matter and ensure that the funds are transferred promptly to the winning choirs as previously communicated,” they wrote.

Even though Governor Sakaja did not respond to our inquiry, his communication office said the process to pay the singers has been initiated through the supplier.

“The arrangement for such payments are made through suppliers so as to onboard the winners and the money. So, it is now upon the supplier to pay them,” an official from the office of the governor said.

Ngomongo Ministries Music director Eric Otieno said the competition was tough but it was unfortunate that they were handed over dummy cheques with promises that they will get the awards immediately and nothing came out of it.

Daniel Madalanga, on behalf of the judges and organisers, said it was unfortunate the winners and adjudicators are yet to get the payment.