Police hold two over flopped gospel concert

Police in Kigali are holding two people in connection with a gospel concert that flopped over the weekend. The concert dubbed, “Taste of Heaven,” had been organised by Corona Space, a local events management group. The venue at Kigali Convention Centre was beaming with fans when Aimable Twizeyimana, a communication and relations officer at Corona Space, arrived at almost 9pm to announce the cancellation of the concert, citing lack of a stage and poor organisation. Those held are Roger Mugwaneza, a programme manager, and Twizeyimana. Popular gospel artistes and worship groups had been lined up to perform at the concert. The organisers claimed that they had invited five choirs; Chorale de Kigali, Rehoboth Ministries, Alarm Ministries, Healing Worship Team, and True Promises, but only three of these turned up (Chorale de Kigali, Healing Worship Team and Tue Promises). The duo is being held at Remera Police Station in Kigali, accused of obtaining money by deceit. The incident happened after a disagreement between concert organisers and invited choirs. “Some choir groups were supposed to perform but the company failed to pay the money they agreed on. As a result, the concert was suddenly cancelled. This occurred when the audience had already paid for entrance,” Police spokesperson Theos Badege told The New Times. Badege said, beside the two suspects in Police custody, one Fulgence Karabayinga, a tickets vendor who is also wanted over the case, is still at large. He said once the criminal case is handled next will be civil claims by people who had paid their money but were not refunded. “Investigation is still going on to get more information about the company and its licence status,” he said, adding that Corona Space was a mixture of business and gospel concert. Gospel artiste Israel Mbonyi was also among those who had reached at the venue. Mbonyi called for calm from all parties. The tickets went for between Rwf10,000 and Rwf20,000 per person. The invited choir groups were supposed to be paid at least Rwf700,000 before performance. Invited choirs blamed the company for the incident which they described as strange. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Police hold two over flopped gospel concert