For decades, many Kenyans have held on to a story that painted Soukous legend Kanda Bongo Man as the man who dared to cross a line no artist should — an alleged affair with the President Daniel Moi’s rumoured companion, “the late Catherine Kasavuli”, that supposedly led to his sudden deportation in the early 1990s.
It was a tale whispered in bars, repeated on radio talk shows, and passed down as fact. Yet, beneath the speculation lay a very different truth, one that reveals more about power, pride, and politics.
To understand it, one must go back to the early 1990s, when Soukous music ruled Africa. The pulsating Congolese rhythm, carried by shimmering guitars and hypnotic Kwasa Kwasa dance moves, had captured hearts from Kinshasa to Nairobi. Kenya, in particular, adored Kanda Bongo Man, the charismatic Congolese singer whose infectious smile and irresistible groove made him one of the most celebrated foreign musicians of the time. His hit song Monie dominated Kenyan airwaves, blaring from matatus and nightclubs alike. It was music that defined an era and made total strangers dance together.
In 1991, veteran broadcaster Fred Obachi Machoka invited Kanda to Kenya under the Voice of Kenya (now KBC). The response was overwhelming. Kanda’s performances at Carnivore Grounds, Bomas of Kenya, KICC, and Nyayo Stadium drew unprecedented crowds. On 7th April 1991, Nyayo Stadium overflowed with more than 40,000 ecstatic fans. Vice President Prof. George Saitoti graced the VIP section, Kikuyu legend Joseph Kamaru shared the stage, and Fred Machoka presided as the master of ceremonies. It was a golden night for Kenyan entertainment,a meeting of rhythm, talent, and joy.
But days later, that joy would turn into confusion and silence. Shortly after his triumphant Nyayo show, Kanda was booked to perform at the New Stanley Hotel. As the band prepared, a convoy of plainclothes officers arrived reportedly from State House and demanded that the musician leave the country within 24 hours. No explanation was given. By the following morning, Kanda Bongo Man was gone, escorted to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and placed on the next flight out.
The official silence that followed left space for rumours to bloom. Whispers claimed he had been deported for getting romantically involved with Catherine Kasavuli, Kenya’s beloved KTN news anchor and a woman widely believed to have been close to the President. The story was too sensational to resist, and it stuck for decades. Yet, as the years passed, those who were present began to speak and their recollections told a very different story.
In a detailed interview with radio presenter Patrick Igunza, Fred Obachi Machoka finally broke his silence. He dismissed the rumour outright and recalled the chaotic night the deportation began. “We had everything ready,the stage, the sound, the dancers,” he said. “Then suddenly, officers appeared and said, ‘There’s no show , orders from above.’ They wanted me to announce it, but I refused. The crowd would have turned violent.” Eventually, the hotel’s general manager, Alphayo Onyango, made the announcement. The audience erupted, smashing glasses and cups in protest.
Machoka rushed to Kanda’s room to find him dressed and ready to perform. “I told him the police had cancelled the show,” he said. “Within minutes, the officers were at the door. They told him, ‘You must leave Kenya immediately.’” When Kanda explained that his Air France flight had already left, the officers insisted he take the next one. Machoka personally drove him to the airport and stayed until the plane took off.
When he asked one of the officers why the deportation had been ordered, the man casually repeated the rumour about Kasavuli. But Machoka, who had been with Kanda nearly every day, didn’t believe it. “I asked Kanda if he even knew her. He looked genuinely confused and said he had never met her. I believed him.”
Determined to understand the real reason, Machoka made inquiries and uncovered a different explanation — one rooted in wounded pride and political muscle. During his stay at the Intercontinental Hotel, Kanda had been approached by aides of Hezekiah Oyugi, one of the most powerful and feared Permanent Secretaries in President Moi’s government. They wanted him to perform at Oyugi’s daughter’s wedding in Rongo. Kanda declined politely, saying he did not perform at private functions, and even suggested fellow Congolese artist Tshala Muana, who was also in Nairobi at the time. The refusal, however, did not sit well with Oyugi. Using his influence and proximity to power, he allegedly invoked the President’s name and ordered the musician’s removal from the country.
In a 2024 interview with Radio Maisha, Kanda himself confirmed this account, finally clearing his name after more than three decades of speculation. “Oyugi asked me to perform for his daughter, Rose,” he said. “But my visa was almost expired. I told him I needed to renew it. He said, ‘Don’t worry, I’m a big man in the President’s office.’ But when an immigration officer called Mr. Kuinga heard about it, he refused to renew my visa. He said, ‘I’ll show him I’m also a big man.’ That’s when they came for me.”
As for the rumours linking him to Catherine Kasavuli, Kanda firmly denied them, clarifying that he only met her for the first time in 2005, at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, when he returned to Kenya officially invited by then Minister of Tourism and Information Raphael Tuju. By then, the wounds had healed, the myths had faded, and the rhythm had found its way home again.
For too long, the public believed a story built on hearsay,one that reduced a celebrated musician’s ordeal to a cheap scandal. But as the facts now show, Kanda Bongo Man’s deportation was not a matter of romance, but of rivalry,ego and power.
