Congolese musician Koffi Olomide has reportedly been charged and detained in prison in his home country after being deported from Kenya for allegedly kicking one of his dancers.
The 60-year-old performer was arrested in Kenya on Friday after video footage appeared to show him swinging a violent kick at a woman believed to be one of his dancers at an airport in Nairobi. Following his arrest, Olomide was sent back to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Saturday and a concert he was due to perform in the Kenyan capital on Saturday was canceled. A festival in Zambia also pulled the musician, who is famous for his soukous music—a high-tempo form of Congolese dance music—from its lineup.
Olomide was arrested in the DRC capital Kinshasa on Tuesday and detained overnight. An unnamed judicial source told AFP that the singer has now been charged with assault and battery and was being detained in a VIP cell at the Makala jail in Kinshasa. The source said that Olomide would face an official court hearing "in five days."
On the musician's official Facebook page, a message was posted on Tuesday that referred to the "injustice" served against Olomide, who had been taken to prison without a conviction being announced or judgement passed. The post asked Olomide's fans to change their profile pictures on social media to an image of the musician with the tagline: "Je Suis Koffi Olomide."
À tous nos ami(e)s, Koffifiles et Koffillettes: Suite à L'INJUSTICE QUE SUBIT NOTRE ARTISTE KOFFI OLOMIDE, QUI VIENT D'...
Posted by Koffi Olomide on Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Following the incident, Olomide initially denied that he had kicked one of his dancers, saying in an interview with Kenya's Citizen TV that he was trying to stop someone from pickpocketing one of his troupe. He later apologized for the incident on social media, asking forgiveness from his fans.
Olomide has recorded 26 albums and previously worked with another Congolese music star, Papa Wemba, who died earlier in 2016 after collapsing on stage. He received a three-month suspended sentence in 2012 after being convicted of assaulting his producer in DRC.
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Conor is a staff writer for Newsweek covering Africa, with a focus on Nigeria, security and conflict.
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