Congolese musician Koffi Olomide is about to serve 18 months in jail after a court in France convicted him of holding his female dancers against their will. Koffi was being charged with performing sexual assault on the same dancers but has been cleared of those charges.
The sexual assaults had allegedly been perpetuated between 2002 and 2006 in Paris. The dancers aleged that he had assaulted them in his villa in Asnières, a town in the Paris region, in his car and sometimes in recording studios. The rape cases were overturned due to “changing and sometimes contradictory” evidence from his accusers. However the court found his actions saw the women “deprived of all liberties and constantly watched” by two of his accomplices who shut them in a room with the blinds drawn.
In addition to the 18 mjonth sentence, Koffi has been ordered to pay a fine of 10,000-32,000 euros (KSH 1,273,311 – KSH 4,074,595) to each dancer.
Koffi Olomide had earlier on been slated to perform in Kenya this past weekend but the concert was cancelled. Seemingly due to the court case he was facing.
Koffi Olomide when he was picked up from his home by police in Congo this morning
Embattled Koffi Olomide was arrested on Tuesday at his home in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to reports the singer was held shortly before being arraigned in court and charged with the assaulting . He was found guilty and sentenced to a year in jail.
This followed uproar from a video captured in Kenya’s main airport JKIA of the maestro raining in one of his Female dancers with kicks.
Olomide denied assaulting one of his dancers identified as Pamela. His lawyer George Wajackoyah also accused Kenyan police of manhandling the musician during his deportation.
The singer apologised in a Facebook post on Monday, terming the incident a “moment of madness” but not after facing widespread condemnation and outrage since the video of the incident at JKIA was shared on social media.
The latest blow comes barely a day when his scheduled concert in Zambia was cancelled and Kenya government revoked his visa permanently.
Could this be the premature end to an era of the Lingala star. He will be out of freedom for the next year.
DP Ruto’s Pilot, Mr Alistair Patrick Llewelyn assaulting a policewoman
For a better part of Friday, the internet went berserk following the surfacing of a coral video showing Congolese Lingala star Koffi Olumide reigning on one of his female dancers with kicks. The assaulting video grasped the internet, elicited anger with users unanimously calling for his arrest and immediate deportation.
The pressure was coming from all corners that the police has no option but to jump in. Koffi was arrested outside Citizen TV’S studios where he had attended an interview show. Later detained at JKIA police station where he spent the night. Olomide has since been deported from the country with double tragedy of permanent visa ban.
Kenyans have a peculiar habit of forgetting things as soon as they relegate from the trends. The impunity forces are aware and take advantage of the this. Earlier this year, DP Ruto’s Pilot, Mr Alistair Patrick Llewelyn was caught on tape assaulting a policewoman.
Expectedly, the video drew hostile reaction accompanied with #DeportRutoPilot, and he was taken to courts, and before we knew it, the chap was back in the skies with the same chopper under the same company.
DP Ruto’s Pilot, Mr Alistair Patrick Llewelyn(Middle) as seen back in action with him his client Lawyer Donal Kipkorir. Notice the registration of the chopper remains the same. (Pic Courtesy)
Kwale Island Development Limited, who run the helicopter 5Y-DSN, said they had terminated the services of Mr Llewelyn whom they had contracted, but they lied. Knowing nature of Kenyans, they duped us with PR statement that he was fired, bought time and sneaked him right back.
Olomide, as some have argued, didn’t survive not because Kenya has strict moral policies but because he didn’t have powerful connections in the government to cushion him. Wenjie Li a Chinese millionaire doing business in Kenya also a declared illegal immigrant by an office of the president is a good example. According to an expose done by Nyakundi, the illegal immigrant is receiving protection from aides to Interior CD Joseph Nkaiseery. The expose would later see the blogger getting police summon and arrest.
What’s so exceptional about Wenjie Li that he can’t be deported with the glaring facts that he’s in the country illegally. The culture of impunity is deeply rooted in the system, and you can nearly get away with anything as long as you have money and know people who know people. If we’re sincere in securing our borders and abiding by the law, then Wenjie Li and any other illegal immigrant should be bundled out of the country.
