Bunny Wailer’s Kids Call Directors’ Meeting To Iron Out Issues Regarding Music Business Deals

All the directors of Solomonic Productions Ltd. have been summoned to a directors’ meeting on June 17 to hammer out issues regarding the proper corporate governance of the company and the future of Bunny Wailer‘s music legacy.

The meeting will likely take place via video and audio conferencing site, Zoom.

“I don’t know what is the agenda of the meeting, but after the meeting, they will have to go through the courts to have everything settled. But my major concern is Bunny’s funeral, right now, we’re playing wait-and-see, I spoke to my lawyer, Delano Franklyn, who was supposed to meet with Minister Babsy Grange last week but I haven’t got an update on that yet,” Carl Livingston, a trustee and a director of Solomonic Productions Ltd., told DancehallMag.

“I hear that they want to move me, and they want to remove Maxine Stowe, who is the company secretary,” Livingston said.

The elder patriarch said he has not had a conversation with his fellow executor Abijah Livingston about the plans for the funeral, the VP Records licensing deal, or any issues regarding Bunny Wailer’s estate. His main focus is the burial of his beloved brother.

“Eventually, they will have to send Bunny home, I haven’t heard from Abijah, anything I hear, I hear through the grapevine. But all I can say, is that to everyone who is close to Bunny and love him, the main thing is that they should try put him under. Whatever reasons they harbour, spite or grudge, they should put that aside and just bury him, but is like dem nah put him under. But sooner or later, they have to put him under, so I am just waiting like everyone else to see this play itself out,” he said.

Mr. Livingston is resigned to the fact that the situation has reached a stalemate.

“It will play itself out, he (Bunny) has embalming fluid in him, if they loved him that bad, then bury your father then. He has two brothers left, and quite a few sisters, they (the children) believe is them alone love Bunny, but the funeral belongs to no one. One of my sisters wanted to deal with it, but I told her to stay out of it. Right now, it is a wait and see game,” he said.

The impending directors’ meeting on June 17 may precede any announcement regarding Bunny Wailer’s funeral even though the Prime Minister is expected to announce new curfew restrictions on June 3. Since February the country has been subjected to stricter measures including weekend lockdowns and tighter curfew hours brought on as the country battles the effects of a second surge in positive COVID-19 cases. A recent extension keeps those measures in effect until June 3.

The principal directors at Solomonic Production Ltd. are Carlton Livingston, Abijah Asadenaki Livingston, Jean Watt, Maxine Stowe and Abijah’s sister, Ngeri Livingston.

One of the major shareholders reportedly lives overseas.

Efforts to get a comment from Maxine Stowe, the company secretary/managing director of Solomonic Productions Ltd., or her legal representatives proved futile.

This directors’ meeting could signal the new front in a protracted battle over the Blackheart Man‘s estate. The various players seemed to have arrived at an impasse, one which has stymied a VP Records music licensing deal, proceeds of which were expected to pay for the funeral and to settle outstanding hospital bills incurred by the estate. The deal is reportedly still on the table, and any proceeds will be paid through Solomonic Productions Ltd., which is just one of several companies which form Bunny Wailer’s estate. Solomonic Productions Ltd. deals with his valuable music catalogue which had been inactive for several decades before the VP music licensing deal was brokered.

When the hospital bill was paid over a month ago, the children issued statement where they seemed to take a swipe at the interference of “third parties” who failed to act while the children stepped up to pay their father’s outstanding medical bills.

“This, again, brings into question the actual intentions of these individuals who could have easily done the same. Instead, they have been trying to force us into deals, all whilst our father was not even granted the dignity of a proper burial,” the joint statement declared.

Jah B sired 13 children, 12 girls and a boy. The children have moved swiftly to take over their father’s affairs.

A recent statement emphasized that “for future updates on the burial information and date, please check Bunny Wailer’s official social media handle @theofficialbunnywailer on Instagram and Facebook or bunnywailerlegacy.com”.

It was specifically stated that Bunny Wailer’s son, Abijah Livingston, who is a trustee (of the estate) and also a director of Solomonic Productions Limited, is now the official go-to person for any information dealing with the late Wailer. All legal correspondence can be directed to ASV Law, the firm appointed by the beneficiaries to act on their behalf regarding the Livingston Estate Trust.

Given the roiling emotions, any attempt to remove a director may invite a legal challenge in the nation’s courts.

Research on the Companies Act revealed a company may, by ordinary resolution, remove a director before the expiration of their period of office notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in the company’s articles or in any agreement between the company and the director. Special notice shall be required of such a resolution and where the director in question has made written representations for circulation, then these should be circulated to members with the resolution. Any person appointed as director in replacement shall be deemed (for retirement purposes) to have taken office from the date the person removed was originally appointed.

Special circumstances where a director can be removed include if the director becomes bankrupt; the director is disqualified from being a director by a court order.

The Act also permits the company’s shareholders, directors, creditors, liquidator or Trustee in Bankruptcy to lodge a complaint with the Registrar if they form a view that a person “is unfit to be concerned in the management” of the company.

Upon receipt of such a complaint, the Registrar shall investigate the matter and afford to the complainant(s) an opportunity to be heard. If satisfied that there are sufficient grounds for a Court hearing on the matter, the Registrar shall issue a certificate to enable the complainant to make an application to the Court.

The Registrar may also make such an application to the Court if satisfied that the person is unfit to be concerned in the management of the company. The person concerned should be given at least 10 days notice prior to the complainant or Registrar making such an application.

If the Court determines that the person is unfit to be concerned with the management of the company, then it may order that the person may not be a director (or be otherwise involved in the management of the company) for a period up to 5 years.

The legendary reggae singer Bunny Wailer died on March 2 in the Medical Associates Hospital in Kingston at the age of 73. He had been in and out of hospital since his second stroke in July 2020.

Hailing from Trench Town, Bunny Wailer’s given name is Neville Livingston. He was a founding member of The Wailers, which included Bob Marley and Peter Tosh.