Sunday 23 July 2017

WHY ARE CONGOLESE PREVENTING THEIR ARTISTS FROM RE-CONQUERING THE EUROPEAN STAGE.







He was hoping to reignite the momentous occasions of the good  old days, posting on Instagram, Congolese musician  Fally  Ipupa signals his upcoming European tour on a   melody note. Strutting his appearance  in a trendy  leather peacoat, in a moving  chorus,  he went on to assure his  fans of his  upcoming  performance  at  La Cigale theatre  in Paris  ,come 22 June 2017. For Congolese artists, the European route has always  proven to be the most lucrative ,offering  splendid cash rewards and the chance to live up to the extravagant life of a  superstar  . But just few hours before the spectacular show,  the singer's expectation was dashed as the Paris Police Department interdicted it  citing security concerns.

In a wake of multiple terror attacks  hitting Europe, governments in the region have been forced to scrutinise mass gathering of individuals in public spaces to avoid   further casualties. But it was not the fear of Islamic extremists infiltrating into a crowd of mostly French nationals of African descent and unleashing deadly explosives that got the French authorities worried, they were responding to a manifesto declaration  from  a self dubbed radical movement, going under the French name of Combattant, who had threatened violence should the concert go ahead.

 The  movement is rooted  in The Democratic Republic of Congo's Diaspora Community spread across major European cities ,  parts of North America and South Africa. Angered by the lack of political progress back home and the perceived reluctance by Western governments to reign in on the country's President Joseph Kabila's dictatorial leadership, they began conducting a series of  physical assaults  on  visiting Congolese state officials and their relatives as a way of showing  their grievance .   
What has caused Congolese artists to be at the receiving end of this group though, is a long prevailing legacy of politicians and businessmen hiring musicians to compose songs overemphasising their opulence and achievements in a bid to bolster their status and significance in society
During  the run up to DR Congo's 2011 general elections ,some of the country's well known singers   joined the campaign trail of President  Kabila. In a compilation of tracks, the president's   little accomplished five key reconstruction plan was being applauded and calls for his reelection was being echoed .As  anti-Kabila protestors   , members of the Combattant  accused  the  singers of being too greedy to  dismiss the suffering  of the Congolese people  for a lump sum of green bag , in retaliation, they  then  decided to bar any  Congolese artist from staging  a show in  territories where they enjoy the freedom to assemble.  

In  fairness, we can all share in the sense of betrayal  by the movement without  necessarily condoning their violent reprisals. Since President  Kabila took power in 2001, the human right situation in DR Congo has remained appalling, till to date the government  has been unable to account for the killings of some political activists , including that of prominent human right lawyer Floribert Chebeya who was murdered in 2010. Corruption and mismanagement are the order of the day as  Kabila and his family have restructured state parastatals to amass personal wealth while the population languishes in poverty  
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 Maybe a thoughtful gesture to the artists  would have been to borrow from the lyrics of   legendary Nigerian Afro Pop sensation Fela Anikulapo Kuti, renowned for his informative massage on the political and economic difficulties Nigerians had to endure under the military rule of Muhammadu Buhari in the 80's .  But then again  how musicians decide to explore their creativity should be at their own discretion, for as long as they do not infringe on other's rights.
The measure which  then rests on the revolutionists who take offence to  the work of an artist is to advocate for its boycott  as oppose to resorting to violent  demeanour  , in doing so they also preserve their title of  true revolutionaries.


Soon after Fally Ipupa's concert was aborted another talented  fellow compatriot  attempted his luck.  More  defiant and outspoken  than Fally himself,  song writer  Heritier Watanabe vowed to wow audience at Salle de  O'lympia  on  15 July 2017,  in the same city of Paris. It was almost certain that he was going to have his way, his  orchestra had already landed at Charles de Gaulle , rehearsals were underway and no word seems to be coming from the French Police Department. But on the day of the concert the Combattant acted on the their manifesto , chaos erupted,  forcing  the police to issue another interdict. 

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