The last time Congolese musician Koffi Olomide was in East Africa was in 2016 when he was kicked out of Kenya for physically assaulting one of his dancers at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
He didn’t even get to perform, and flew back to DRC where he was charged for the crime, sentenced to 18 months in jail, and got it commuted to three at the pleasure of then-president Joseph Kabila.
His kept out of the limelight until Monday, when he showed up in Nairobi, apologised for the incident, and announced that he will be performing on May 9 at the Carnivore Gardens. He was in Nairobi enroute to the DRC from Dar es Salaam where he had performed on Saturday.
“I apologise, and sincerely am sorry for what I did wrong. I want to say thank you to the government of Kenya, because it has endorsed me to come back to the country. I missed Kenya so much, the country of my life. Soon I will be in the country to meet my fans one by one for selfies, and then we will announce the date for the coming back of the King of Africa in Kenya,” he said.
Olomide has had several convictions of assault and statutory rape over the past few years, that have led to him to being banned from performing in some countries.
He has over 300 songs under his belt and several Kora awards, including Lifetime Achievement Award (2005), Best Male Artist of Central Africa, and Jury Special Award (2002).
Talking to the press in Dar, Olomide, 63, said; “I did think about quitting. But when I consulted some of my closest family and loyal fans, they told me my age shouldn’t be a factor because it still allows me to keep doing my music. So I’ve decided to postpone my retirement.”
His performance in Dar could be the first of several planned international comeback shows.
To prove that Olomide still commands loyal fans, despite the high ticket prices of Tsh100,000 ($43.50) per head, and Tsh1 million ($435) per table, word has it that the tickets for the March 7 concert dubbed Mahaba ya Rhumba (Rhumba romance) were sold out within an hour.
The performance at the Mlimani City Hall was packed with many ticket-holders standing throughout the evening.
The man also known as “Grand Mopao”, Olomide took to the stage at midnight and performed for two hours. It was an electric performance of contemporary hit songs from current chart-toppers Papa Ngwasuma, Papa Mobimba and Selfie to the lesser-known Andrada, Attendant, Ultimatum and Loi.
Papa Ngwasuma in particular was the most popular song of the night. Olomide and his band played the song six times in response to endless shouts of “encore”.
However, the crowd had expected a longer show in light of the cost of the tickets.
The curtain raiser included dancers from the accompanying Quartier Latin International band, led by the high-pitched Cindy Le Coeur, who provided the entertainment with their engaging sebene dance style.
In a personal video he shared on social media on March 4, Olomide admitted to being at fault for the airport incident.
It is understood that Kenya’s Ministry of Interior and Co-ordination of National Government issued a letter in January this year, officially scrapping his persona non grata status.
A previous move to have Olomide headline a show at Kenya’s 2018 Devolution Conference failed after it was revealed that the ban had not been lifted. The new letter from the ministry now grants him access to perform in Kenya.
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