A 22 year old man Eric Nyadida is suing Equity Bank for using his song to promote ‘Wings to Fly’ initiative without pay.
Eric is claiming Sh10 million pay for the song including other constitutional and fundamental reliefs from the bank.
He says he composed the song while in Form Two at Maranda High School and recorded at Homeboyz Studios. He was sixteen years at the time.
Eric was assisted through the process by his manager John Kennedy who got him the opportunity to compose an original song to be used by Equity Bank for their Wings to Fly project which sponsors needy students.
Eric claims the Bank had pledged Sh10 million for the song but he has not received even a cent over the last six years while the song is still being used by the bank in their commercials and features.
His attempts to reach the bank boss Dr James Mwangi were futile but he met some managers who were ‘advising’ to reduce the amount to sh2.5 million but he refused.
Eric also alleges that the bank offered to exchange the pending Sh10 million fee with a scholarship, another deal that he also declined.
When hen kept demanding for his pay, he alleges that Equity Bank took him to court for attempting to defraud them (Equity Bank) of Sh10 million.
They were informed together with his brother through a letter that they had committed a criminal offence and they were required to take statements at the Equity Centre the following day.
The case took three years in court and Eric was acquitted on October 3, 2017 since the prosecution failed to provide sufficient evidence for the offence.
