During a musical tour in Kenya in April 1991, Kanda Bongo Man performed to a filled Nyayo National Stadium.
A week earlier, retired President Daniel Moi’s rally in Central Kenya had been attended by a paltry crowd. Moi was surprised and wondered who Kanda Bongo Man was and how the man could attract such a huge following.
Moi’s all-powerful Internal Security Permanent Secretary, Hezekiah Ogengo Oyugi, had asked the musician to perform at his private home, during his daughter’s birthday party.
“Oyugi wanted me to perform in his daughter’s wedding yet my schedule was tight and my visa had expired. When he insisted and even attempted to renew the visa, the immigration boss felt slighted and ordered his officers to kick me out,” Kanda Bongo Ma told a reporter from The Standard newspaper during a past interview.
In his autobiography, Absolute Power, former Nakuru District Commissioner, Jonah Anguka recounted what exactly happened to the Congolese musician.
Bongo Man had his performance permit withdrawn and later, heavily armed guards were deployed at the hotel where the Kwasa Kwasa hitmaker was staying.
The police were under strict instructions not to allow anyone to contact the musician until the following morning when he was deported.
However, Kenyans had pieced together a different story. When the Congolese musician landed in Kenya, he was interviewed by KTN anchor Catherine Kasavuli.
The story that was trashed by the celebrated anchor claimed that Kasavuli and the Kwasa Kwasa hitmaker were an item and that a senior politician was displeased with the matter, thereby deported Kanda Bongo Man.
Twelve years after Kanda Bongo Man was deported, the musician visited Kenya with the invitation of Jubilee Secretary General Raphael Tuju.
In a 2003 interview with The Standard, Bongo Man denied eyeing Ksavuli and confirmed that his eyes were on a lady known as Wahito.
