Congolese musician Koffi Olomide baffled many when he descended on one of his female dancers with kicks and blows upon touching down at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) Friday morning.
Koffi Olomide, who is slated to perform at the Bomas of Kenya on Saturday, July 23rd, is said to have been irritated by one of the dancers who fell out with his alleged lover, Cindy Le Couer.
The victim, identified as Pamela, has, however, denied that she was assaulted by the Selfie hit-maker despite the action being caught live on camera.
“Dear fans of Koffi Olomide, I would like to tell you that Koffi did not attack me, it was a girl at the airport that was threatening me and Koffi came to defend me…Koffi can never beat us in public, and we all know that Koffi loves his dancers and he can never do something like that,” said Pamela in a video shared on Koffi Olomide’s Facebook page Friday.
She added: “For your information, Koffi does not beat us. For all those who love Koffi, I want to tell you that Koffi is not someone who is aggressive… he loves us very much and it’s just a girl who came and started attacking us. As far as we are concerned, we don’t have any problem. We came for a concert. We are in good terms with Koffi. He is our president and he never harms us.”
Koffi Olomide on his side expressed disappointment at how social media users and a section of his fans in Kenya reacted to his alleged assault.
“I watched the video with a lot of distress where it seems that I was assaulting one of my dancers. On the contrary I was defending my dancers from a lady who was threatening them at the airport. I respect women and everyone knows that I do. I would like to apologize to all women because of my actions but I was defending my dancers.”
Cindy, a Congolese female singer with an impressive vocal range, allegedly started dating Koffi Olomide, her boss, in 2012. Since then, she has reportedly been his favorite among his backing vocalists.
Cindy Le Coeur is also a member of the Congolese band Quartier Latin International – a soukous band from the Democratic Republic of the Congo established in 1986 by musician Koffi Olomide.
Cindy’s rumoured relationship with Koffi Olomide made late Tanzanian actor Steven Kanumba to compare the pair’s love affair to his own relationship with celebrated actress Lulu Michael. Kanumba made this statement because – like Kofi and Cindy – he was dating his employee.
Koffi is, however, married to Aliane Olomide and the couple has seven children: Nzau Twengi Aristotle O’Neill, Elvis, Minou Miss Universe, Didi Stone Nike, Rocky, Del pirlo Mourhino and Saint James Rolls.
He chose western sounding names for his children in defiance of the La’ Authenticite policy in which President Mobutu Seseseko mandated the use of indigenous Africa names instead of western names.
(Article originally appeared on:edaily.co.ke)