Famous Congolese music icon Koffi Olomide has been sentenced to 18 months behind bars without an option of fines. The jail term was issued by a Kinshasa court, reports from Nairobi confirm.
Image: Koffi Olomide
The popular musician lost his mind in a brawl with one of his dancers, as the troupe landed at Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi last Friday.
Koffi, 60, was said to have lost his temper and assaulted the female dancer in public, marking a shameful nose-dive in his career built with awesome performances around the world.
His planned concert at The Bomas of Kenya was cancelled, and the star was subsequently deported on 23 July 2016, after spending the night in police custody.
Reports confirm that the singer was deported from Kenya along with three female dancers in the group. Police arrived at his residence as a follow up to the court judgement.
According to reports from Kinshasa, “a campaign to have him arrested was started by Congressman Zakarie Bababaswe, who had filed a petition on behalf of the Congolese public to get the musician punished for assault.”
Mr Bababaswe reportedly appeared on a live TV conference where he expressed concern that the “Ndombolo” singer was not immediately prosecuted after publicly hitting a dancer in Nairobi. He asked: “Why is Koffi Olomide “still walking scot-free and yet there was video evidence that he assaulted his dancer in Kenya?”
Incidentally, the Congressman’s anger wasn’t only in defense of women rights. Reports say he and Koffi used to be pals until the relationship turned sour, after the musician and Cindy Le Coeur [his lead singer] allegedly made mockery of the political figure in their lyrics.
Now it’s “Joy To The World” as the musician’s arrest has been followed up with quick court sentence.
The prosecution and strict judgement issued by the country’s Attorney-General, “has been received with jubilation by locals and foreigners who feel justice must be done for all, and especially in enforcing women’s rights”.
The world never knew Koffi Olomide was very good at Kung Fu until the video footage of his deadly kick on a woman was released online.
In 2012 he was convicted of assaulting his producer, and received a three-month suspended sentence.
Four years earlier, in 2008 he had been accused of kicking a cameraman at a concert in Kinshasa though the matter was resolved out of court.
Image shows Koffi and his entourage arrive Nairobi Airport on July 22nd, a moment before the regrettable incident.
He is the founder of the Quartier Latin International orchestra with many notable artists including Fally Ipupa and Ferré Gola.
Described by fellow students and his teachers alike as “a very bright student,” Olomide got a scholarship to study in Bordeaux, France where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in business economics. He is also reported to hold a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Paris.
Among many awards won in his many years of making melodious tunes, Koffi was named the Best African Artist in 1998. He also won Kora Awards in 2002 and 2003.
More recently, he won the Kora Award for “Best African Artist of The Decade”. This award is said to have given him another name [on the list of many aliases], the ‘Quadra Kora Man.’
