Singer Koffi Olomide granted bail after four days in jail for assault

From a Nairobi jail to a Kinshasa prison, veteran Congolese rumba musician has been released on bail after he was arrested in his home country last week for assaulting his female dancer in Kenya.

The 59-year-old was granted bail on Saturday night, after four days of detention, on the grounds that “he has a known residence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, he is a famous star and his main interests are in the country,” one of his lawyers Benoit Tayeye explained.

According to the prosecution, the charges of assult and battery against him have not been dropped eventhough he has been freed from the Makala central prison in Kinshasa, AFP reports.

Real name Antoine Agbepa Mumba, Olomide was arrested a second time in a week after the previous one in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, for kicking his female dancer in the stomach at the airport on their arrival for a concert. He was deported after spending the night in jail.

Koffi Olomide deported, government permanently revokes his visa pic.twitter.com/w9N9JIcvtz

— NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya) July 23, 2016

He earlier denied the assault despite being caught on camera, but later apologised on Congolese television and on Facebook.

Reality hits, Koffi Olomide is remorseful and begging for forgiveness on Congo national T.V. Too late. Consequential https://t.co/rFxvSTC7ox

— Kenya West© (@KinyanBoy) July 24, 2016

Olomide’s arrest was spearheaded by a Congolese Member of Parliament Zacharias Bababaswe who described the act as barbaric against a woman.

The Rumba star, who has more than 26 albums to his name, has a history of assault. In August 2012, the singer was slapped with a three months suspended prison sentence in Kinshasa for assaulting his producer.