Why Koffi Olomide Kenyan Concert was Never to be

A range of critical errors in event organisation ruin what should have been an amazing event. Late last year, Congolese soukous singer, dancer, producer and composer, Antoine Christophe Agbepa Mumba, better known as Koffi Olomide, was set to perform in the country after years of truancy. However, the concert organized by AdrenaLIVE never saw the light of day (or is it night?).

And just like that, one of the most eagerly anticipated events in the history of Lingala/Rhumba concerts in Kenya was never to be leaving thousands of fans disappointed, especially after the hype that had been pumped into the show. So much so that Boombaataa Festival (featuring Ice Prince and Davido) tickets hinted about the concert. With that, AdrenaLIVE, definitely had some questions to answer, since

So where exactly did it go wrong? Ghafla! exclusively spoke to Adrenalive representatives, who said that they were NOT the ones organising the event, they were only doing logistics and advertising. According to them, they had been contracted by a foreign event organising firm to arrange for his arrival, but the terms of the deal were way too stringent.

It should also be noted that Koffi Olomide has been having some personal issues of late. He has been facing assault charges especially after he allegedly assaulted a photojournalist in Zambia by kicking him in the face as he tried to take photographs of the musician after a live performance at Pamodzi hotel.

At around the same time when the concert was supposed to take place, international media outlets reported that Koffi had also fallen out bitterly with most of his former band members. Suzuki Luzubu claims that Koffi has a strange attitude towards his ex-musicians, “He sings everyday about love but does not love his former musicians and keep talking bad about them,” he laments.

Suzuki is not the only former QL (Quartier Latin) member who has spoken ill of Koffi, it’s not very long since Sam Tshintu showed his disgust for Koffi on live TV. Allegedly Koffi was saying no one has the right to sing Quartier Latin songs at their concerts apart from ”his best singer so far, Cindy” so that really upset all his former musicians. Sam Tshintu and many others said Koffi seems to forget easily who helped him to get to where he is, who toured with him most since he’s only toured with Cindy and released an album with her recently.

These among other woes that the organizer referred to contributed to the botched concert.