Three days after the ill-fated Koffi Olomide Kisumu concert, fresh details have emerged on how a last minute intervention by the police managed to finally bring out the artist and save an already deteriorating situation.
As time elapsed and fans started questioning whether Koffi Olomide would indeed hit the stage, things got a little out of control as some fans attempted to storm the stage, furiously cursing the Congolese Rhumba maestro and blasting him for failing to appear on stage, deep into the night.
Reliable reports indicate that the “Selfie” hitmaker, who had arrived in Kenya at around 3.30pm on the day of the performance, minus his band, had been holed up in his hotel room the entire time, apparently adamant to come out, insisting on hitting the stage with his Live Band.
Despite his stubbornness, members of his Quartier Latin International band were not even in Kisumu by the night of the concert – they had chosen to travel separately, by using a flight which would touch down in Entebbe, Uganda, from where they would continue their journey into Kenya by road.
At the Busia border, his band members would encounter clearance delays and complications, an incident which greatly ate into their time and saw them arrive in Kisumu the following morning, Sunday, 10am.
Despite being fully aware of his band’s difficulties in arriving in Kisumu on time, and the obvious unlikeliness of them being able to join him on stage, Olomide still remained obstinate, remaining in his room and heeding no calls to hit the stage as the crowds had started getting unbearably agitated.
At this juncture, police intervention was quickly organized and a team of police officers were dispatched to his hotel room in a last minute attempt to forcefully get the singer onto the stage and quell the impending ruckus as reported by Nairobi News.
After a protracted negotiation, led by persuasive officers, Olomide finally budged, agreeing to hit the stage without his band. His promoter, and several people in his entourage, followed suit too.
What followed is what has been reported widely as a disastrous performance which saw the “Mon Amour” singer put on a lethargic show lacking in all the qualities which make up an excellent Rhumba showdown.
He merely pranced around the stage for a little over ten minutes, appeared disoriented, didn’t perform Live and spent most of the minutes on stage chanting to a DJ back-up track and taking selfies of himself.
His performance has been widely slammed by attendees, with many calling out his lack of professionalism and apparent – and longrunning – lack of respect for his Kenyan fans.
“I paid Ksh. 5,000 for the VIP ticket only to watch a man I grew up admiring jump around the stage surrounded by 50 bouncers and taking selfies of himself!” Karen Wanjau, a disappointed fan, wrote on X. “He only danced for like ten minutes and then disappeared! That was the worst concert experience of my life!”
Despite widespread condemnation from Kenyan fans, Koffi Olomide has not addressed the debacle, more than 24 hours later. He also has not issued a public apology or explained why his band couldn’t travel with him, or at the very least, travel earlier so as to join him on stage.
“We are utterly regretful that the show turned out to be such a hot mess. We had made prior preparations to pull of a seamless show and despite doing everything on our end, and meeting all financial obligations, someone, somehow, failed to do their job right and honor their promise,” a Mzuqa Fest representative said.