Legendary Congolese singer Tshala Muana has been detained by National Intelligence Agency (ANR) officers after releasing a song critical of President Felix Tshisekedi.
Muana released a controversial song titled ‘Ingratitude’ last weekend, which was interpreted as criticizing president Tshisekedi for failing to show gratitude to his predecessor Joseph Kabila.
Tshisekedi ascended to presidency in January 2019 after signing a deal with Kabila who had ruled D.R. Congo for 18 years.
The president chose to share power with Kabila in 2019 in a coalition of their respective political parties – Union for Democracy and Social Progress (led by Tshisekedi) and People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (led by Kabila).
Rather than put the country on the path of economic and social recovery as intended, the alliance between Tshisekedi and Kabila turned out to be a centre of conflict from early on. The alliance partners have fought over the sharing of ministerial posts. They have also clashed over the control of other state agencies, including the judiciary and the national electoral commission.
Tshala Muana, who is a public supporter of Kabila’s party, dropped controversial ‘Ingratitude’ to indirectly attack the president for betraying his predecessor.
The veteran singer was arrested in the capital Kinshasa amid speculation over the ‘deeper meaning’ or interpretation of lyrics, though she doesn’t mention any name in her song.
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The government did not immediately clarify on Muana’s detention but has since banned the song from playing on local radio stations.
Several women protested in Kinshasa over the arrest of the veteran songbird who was still being held by police on Monday evening.
