Papa Wemba has a huge fans' following across the world

One of the biggest stars of African music, the Congolese singer Papa Wemba appears in court in France today on a charge of aiding illegal immigration. The fifty-five year old is suspected of being paid to obtain visas for Congolese nationals who entered France during his concert tours, claiming to be members of his road crew. This report from Hugh Schofield:

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The French authorities claim that would-be immigrants from his home in the Democratic Republic of Congo would pay him some four-and-a-half-thousand dollars in return for which he would tell the French embassy in Kinshasa that they were members of his band or road crew and bring them to Paris on his next tour.

French officials say that they were alerted in the year 2000 when a suspiciously large number of people, some two hundred, formed his musical entourage. Many of them never went back.

Papa Wemba was granted conditional release after four months in prison, during which he said he underwent a religious conversion, and he has since been allowed to leave France to give concerts. He is expected to be in court though in person in the Paris suburb of Bobigny.

A flamboyant figure who has been dubbed the king of rumba rock, Papa Wemba was already a hugely popular performer in the then Zaire before the fashion for African and world music brought him fame in Europe and the United States.

Hugh Schofield, BBC, Paris

Listen to the words

consternation
great shock and disappointment

running
leading, conducting

scam
a clever and dishonest plan

would-be
desiring or aspiring to be

alerted
if you alert someone, you make them watchful and ready to take action

entourage
people who surround and follow an important person

underwent a religious conversion
changed his religious beliefs

flamboyant
showy and confident

dubbed
called

hugely
very, extremely

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