Koffi Olomide To Spend 18 Months In Jail

Congolese musician Koffi Olomide is about to serve 18 months in jail after a court in France convicted him of holding his female dancers against their will. Koffi was being charged with performing sexual assault on the same dancers but has been cleared of those charges.

The sexual assaults had allegedly been perpetuated between 2002 and 2006 in Paris. The dancers aleged that he had assaulted them in his villa in Asnières, a town in the Paris region, in his car and sometimes in recording studios. The rape cases were overturned due to “changing and sometimes contradictory” evidence from his accusers. However the court found his actions saw the women “deprived of all liberties and constantly watched” by two of his accomplices who shut them in a room with the blinds drawn.

In addition to the 18 mjonth sentence, Koffi has been ordered to pay a fine of 10,000-32,000 euros (KSH 1,273,311 – KSH 4,074,595) to each dancer.

Koffi Olomide had earlier on been slated to perform in Kenya this past weekend but the concert was cancelled. Seemingly due to the court case he was facing.