Popular rhumba musician Koffi Olomide has been barred from entering Zambia because of the many criminal allegations against him in the southern African country, and France.
They include allegations of assaulting a photojournalist in Zambia during a previous tour.
He has also been accused of sexually assaulting his dancers, kidnapping them and employing them without valid permits in France.
The French embassy in Zambia had asked the local authorities to arrest Congolese rhumba star Koffi Olomide for various allegations.
Following the appeal, Zambian media quoted Religious Affairs minister Godfridah Sumaili saying the singer would be arrested upon arrival.
Olomide, a regular in Zambia, was due to hold two shows this month.
French ambassador Sylvain Berger said Olomide was facing a number of charges both in Zambia and France.
The rhumba maestro is wanted on suspicion of sexually assaulting dancers, kidnapping and employing them in France without a permit and facilitating their entry and illegal stay.
It is not the first time Olomide is finding himself in the eye of a storm in Zambia. He, in January 2013, assaulted a Zambian photojournalist and had to flee across the border to avoid arrest.
Koffi Olomide is due to perform in Zimbabwe on August 3 at the Harare International Conference Centre, with indications showing that the promoter Sound Blaze Productions would now have to go it alone, Koffi’s huge travelling cost has put them in quandary.
Mapao, as his fans fondly refer to him, was infamously deported from Kenya in July 2016 for kicking one of his dancers at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
The musician spent the night at police cells at the airport before being deported to Kinshasa where he was charged with the crime and jailed for three months, commuted down from 18 months on President Joseph Kabila’s intervention.
He was, however, released on bail after five days. Olomide apologised to Kenyans for his behaviour.
But even at home, the 62-year-old bad boy is never far from controversies. He was in August 2012 given a three-month suspended prison sentence for assaulting his producer.
The sentence followed his arrest after the fracas at a hotel in Kinshasa.
Earlier in 2001, security personnel in Kinshasa dragged Koffi out of his Mercedes Benz Compressor and frog-marched in public after he had defied being flagged do
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