Nairobi — As Kenyans seek answers to what exactly became of the planned and highly-publicised concert of Senegalese-born American artiste Akon Thiam last weekend, they will be shocked to learn that other international pop stars are trooping to neighbouring countries for shows.

In particular, they need to note that Akon is scheduled to perform in Uganda at the end of next month, and this is said to be a legal contract.

Akon has been scheduled to perform in Kenya three times since last September and failed as many times, and this has infuriated the public and the media, who feel that the local music lovers are being taken for a ride.

In Tanzania, renowned R&B artistes KCI & Jojo will be entertaining their fans next week. Other artistes are lined up for shows.

Kenya is slowly becoming a pariah state as far as international artistes are concerned, and this is making many of them skip the country when they come to Africa.

Successful concert

The greatest pointer to this was last month's successful concert by veteran reggae group UB40 who decided to skirt the country as they toured East Africa.

The problem, according to many Kenyans, lies solely with the people responsible for bringing in the artistes to Kenya - promoters. A popular adage in the entertainment business is that contracts are written in faded ink and that it is the promoter's integrity that carries the day.

Frustrations when it comes to paying the musician after a performance and outright neglect by promoters are to blame for this state of affairs, and this makes sponsors reluctant to produce the money to get the artistes.

Two years ago, Kenyans witnessed an embarrassing situation in which one of reggae's biggest names, Albert "Apple Gabriel" Craig, was left with a bill of Sh500,000 after his promoter disappeared soon after he had performed.

The musician, who was accompanied by 12 singers and was staying at a luxury city hotel, almost burst into tears when he learnt that his promoter was nowhere to be seen and yet he had not cleared the bills.

He vowed never to set foot in Kenya again even though, when he landed here, he had said that as a reggae prophet, he felt that Kenya is "my motherland... I am happy to be in a free country." The first to blacklist Kenya was the internationally renowned TP OK Jazz band in the early 1990s after its first tour without rhumba legend Franco ended on a sour note.

After the group's performance at the Bomas of Kenya, the promoter fled with the money, and the musicians had to look for own means to travel back to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Last year, gospel artiste Kirk Franklin and reggae guru Burning Spear were some of the only visible international artistes who came to Kenya and held successful shows.

Others were Samba Mapangala of the Vunja Mifupa hit song and Oliver Mtukudzi.

With the Akon fiasco still having tongues waging, promoter Sam Lentz who, through his Bushstock Entertainment, was to bring the international artiste to Kenya, is now a man under siege as everyone seems to be blaming him.

But he absolves himself from blame for the circumstances that may have put paid to the Akon concert.

"Bushstock Entertainment was using a public relations agency to bring Akon to Kenya, and after he failed to come, we decided not to use it any more, and we are now talking to the Akon management directly," he says. "We are getting Akon to explain on record that nothing wrong happened after all."

Lentz also apologises to Kenyan Akon fans, saying that those of them who had bought tickets will get their money back.

He also promises to ensure that the R&B artiste, who is known for hit songs such as Locked Up and Ghetto, performs in the country soon.

"We are in talks with Akon's management and we are trying to ensure that he performs in Kenya before May," added Lentz. He points out that he hopes to have Akon here when the pop star travels to Uganda for his scheduled performance.

As for reports that he is taking Kenyans for a ride, Lentz says he stands by his word that he is committed to having Akon perform in the country.

Another artiste whom Kenyans waited for in vain is Sam Fan Thomas of Cameroon, whose scheduled performance on New Year's eve was cancelled at the eleventh hour due to security concerns after the post-election violence.

Christine Mosha, the Tanzanian public relations and events manager of music channel MTV and who has worked with Joseph Kussaja, a successful promoter in the country, says Kenyans need promoters who are serious in what they do.

"It's not like here in Tanzania where such things (botched concert plans) don't happen often," he says. "They are minimal, and the few promoters know the advantage of having a successful show, and not their names in the papers."

She blames the situation in Kenya also on the pulling out of cigarette brand Benson & Hedges from Kenya which, she argues, was aggressive in bringing in international artistes in the mid-1990s.

"In Tanzania, the biggest sponsor is TCC, a cigarette company which is around to advertise at the shows," she says.

Mosha has a lot of good words to say about Kussaja for his role in ensuring that international artistes have a good image of Tanzania by being a good promoter.

"He ensures that artistes' demands are fulfilled, and when he managed to bring Jay Z last year, he hit the jackpot with fans and sponsors who are now willing to invest more," she adds.

Come July, Tanzania will be hosting the Sullivan Summit which will bring together the A-list of American superstars such as Mary J. Blige, Jay Z and Patti Labelle.

Monali Shah of Scangroup, who is responsible for the Akon show in Kampala next month, says that her organisation has finalised plans for the event, and that she is sure that if all goes well, it will be a concert to remember.

She says that there are some promoters who give Kenya a bad name, but adds that it must be recognised that sometimes good deals go sour.

"We have good promoters here (in Kenya), but the few bad ones are giving us all a bad name," she adds.

"With Akon, as Scangroup we ensured that we talked to the right agents and also fulfilled all our contractual obligations. This is why he is going to Uganda."

Kenyan promoters, she notes, need to be serious about whom they bring in so that fans and sponsors may have faith in the industry and help it to recover.