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Congolese Soukus singer Antoine Christophe Agbepa Mumba, known professionally as Koffi Olomidé has been sentenced to 18 months in prison by a French court. According to BBC, the 65-year-old singer was cleared of rape but convicted for holding four former dancers against their will.
In 2019, the music star was found guilty of sexual assault and kidnapping his dancers in 2002 and 2006 at the singer's villa in Asnières, a town in the Paris region.
The singer was ordered to pay each dancer approximately Sh1.2 million as compensation.
According to lawyer David Desgranges who represented three of the women, this recent development regarding the case against the singer is a disappointment to his accusers.
"Obviously they will be disappointed with the sexual assault verdicts because for them it was the most important thing," he said.
Court records indicate that the Presiding Judge overturned the rape charge due to his accusers' changing and sometimes contradictory evidence.
While appealing to the 2019 ruling a while back, Koffi's lawyers revealed that his accusers were out for personal gain other than telling the truth.
"The dream of the young women who accuse him was to live in France and obtain papers from associations," one of the lawyers was quoted, adding that the "women are very well protected."
In 2016, the government of Kenya deported Koffi after he was filmed kicking a woman at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. The incident attracted a lot of criticism against the singer. In addition, it sparked outrage on social media, with netizens calling him out to publicly apologise and take full responsibility for his actions.
Speaking at a press conference, the then Kenya's minister, Youth and Gender Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki, said the singer would be deported and suggested that his visa be permanently revoked.
"His conduct was an insult to Kenyans and our constitution," she said, adding that "Violence against women and girls cannot be accepted in any shape, form or manner. It is a blatant violation of their human rights."
Ands just last week, the singer was the subject of protests by civil rights activists who wanted him stopped from performing in the country over the weekend over they said was his "history of committing violence directed at young girls and women."
