Mbilia Bel goes on Kenya Peace Tour

Bel arrived in Nairobi on Monday ahead of Kenya's general election scheduled for 8 August 2017. The tour will see her stage shows in Nairobi and Kisumu. Her Nairobi show will take place on 30 June at the New Meladen Club in Upper Hill and will coincide with Democratic Republic of Congo’s Independence Day celebrations. She will then perform at Victoria Railway Club in Kisumu on 7 July.

The songbird, who today visited Nairobi's Lang'ata Women Prison to give a motivational talk to the inmates, will also team up with fellow Nairobi-based Congolese singer General Defao.

Bel last staged a performance in Kenya seven years ago and won the hearts of Kenyans with such songs as ‘Nakei Nairobi’, ‘Nadina’, ‘Douceur’, ‘Faux Pas’ and ‘Beyanga’ as well as hits she released while still with Tabu Ley Rochereau’s Orchestre Afrisa International.

"I promise to give my Kenyan fans the best of both my old and new songs," Bel told journalists during a press conference on Monday.

Bel, who has just released the 17-track album Signature, began her career as a backup singer with Orchestre Afrisa International and eventually became the star of the band. She released her first album Eswi yo wapi in 1983. Irreconcilable differences with Rochereau led to her exit from Orchestre Afrisa International in 1987 and in 1988 she moved to Paris, France. In 1989 and 1990 she toured the US, Europe and West Africa, which gave her international fame.