A group of Rwandan activists have demanded the cancellation of Congolese musician Koffi Olomidé’s concert scheduled on Saturday in the capital, Kigali.
They are citing the musician’s 2019 conviction by a court in France for statutory rape of one of his former dancers when she was 15, among other offences.
In a statement, the activists said allowing the Congolese star to perform at the concert “violates commitments Rwanda has made to achieve gender equality and ending violence against women and girls”.
The group is composed of 29 organisations involved in campaigns against gender violence in Rwanda.
The concert organisers said they were “not in position to pronounce ourselves on the moral and criminal allegations” and promised “an entertaining event”.
Koffi is a huge star of rumba and soukous which are popular across much of Africa.
He has been in trouble with the law several times before, including assaulting one of his dancers in Kenya in 2016 and allegedly assaulting a photographer in Zambia in 2018.
