Former Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale has backed government's bid to block Congolese Lingala star Kofi Olomide from performing in Kakamega town on April 24.
Khalwale said organizers of the 2018 Devolution Conference should give priority to local artists who are in dire need to market their potential.
He said there was no need of inviting the international artist when Kenya is full of local musicians with the capacity to stage performance adequate enough to entertain guests during the official opening of the conference.
"Let it be clear that we also don’t want him in Kakamega. Let local artists perform at the devolution conference," Khalwale said on his official Twitter account.
Olomide had been invited by organizers of the 2018 Devolution Conference to be hosted in Kakamega but the government has rejected his invitation following his 2016 deportation from the country.
Olomide was deported on July 23, 2016, following drama at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi where he kicked one of his female stage dancers.
He was arrested and detained at the JKIA police post before being deported back to Congo.
The Interior Ministry on Saturday said Kofi will have to ask for his status as a prohibited immigrant to be lifted before he can be allowed in the country.
Ministry spokesperson Mwenda Njoka said if Kofi dares to come to Kenya without regularizing his status, he would be deported again.