Police foils Kalimba’s Homecoming Party

Fans of Rwanda’s representative and second runner-up at the just concluded Tusker Project Fame Season Five (TPF5), Jackson Kalimba, were left devastated on Saturday night, as police stormed into Bamboo Restaurant and stopped the star’s Homecoming Party.The party was organised by Oxygen Communication Ltd, a local events company. However, despite the organisers’ efforts to reduce the sound, which the police had claimed to be too loud, they [security personnel] kept on interrupting the event.“We simply couldn’t continue operating in such a situation,” said Dan Odhiambo of Oxygen Communication Ltd. “You can’t have the gig when the police is interrupting every after few minutes ….so we decided to give up with the show.”Some revellers accused police of unfair treatment since the party was held in a commercial area. “This was totally uncalled for because Bamboo Restaurant is located in a commercial centre – not a residential area. So, stopping the party in such an area was unfair,” said a one angry Jonathan Habimana. “I thank the organisers of the party –this was supposed to be an opportunity for me to thank all my local fans for supporting me during the TPF 5 competition,” lamented Kalimba. “However, I was a bit disappointed because the police stopped the party before I could go on stage to officially thank everyone.” According to Odhiambo, the party dubbed “Grown and Sexy” was expected to be among the best parties on this year’s calendar with Kenya’s seasoned DJs Collo and DJ UV.Language issue Meanwhile, Rwanda’s TPF5 finalist Jackson Kalimba has spoken out for the first time about his time in the region’s music competition, pointing out that his lack of fluency in English could not have prevented him from winning.Kalimba emerged third behind Kenya’s Doreen and winner Ruth Matete, missing out on the top prize of Kshs5 million but the soft spoken singer says his career will carry on. “While I struggled to express myself in English, it was not an issue in the competition as contestants are judged on talent, their ability to sing and stage presence, and not on their ability to speak English properly or not,” Kalimba said.He won a recording deal with Universal Music. The guitar maestro, however, partly blamed the sponsors East African Breweries Limited (EABL) for not marketing the show in other countries like it does in the host country Kenya, which means that Kenyan contestants have an edge over their counterparts from neighbouring countries.“You find that there is a lot of publicity and awareness going on in Kenya than it is in the other countries which means that more people will vote in Kenya than else where, but nevertheless, I am thankful to Rwandans who were able to vote for me and keep me going,” he said.Throughout the contest, Kalimba proved to be one of the most talented contestants, easily winning over the favour of the judges, the audience, the faculty and social networking sites. His knowledge of Kiswahili helped him through the contest.The youthful singer reckons that if the advertising was equal in all countries, he could have had an edge over the eventual Ruth Matete. Kalimba has promised the public that he will take Rwandan music to another level.“I want to show Rwandans what I am capable of doing and I can promise them that I will take Rwandan music to the international stage,” he concluded.

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Police foils Kalimba’s Homecoming Party