PARAMARIBO--A homophobic dancehall artiste who was arrested during a drug bust last week, has said that he was dabbling in crime to put food on the table for his nine children and the two others that his two girlfriends will soon give birth to.
As he was lead in front of the Judge of Instruction on Thursday, King Koyeba, who ruffled feathers with his controversial anti-gay song “Bullet,” confessed to selling narcotics. He admitted that part of the ten kilograms of marijuana that were found on the two men that were arrested with him, was his.
The trio was nabbed at a house in southern Paramaribo. Police had raided several houses during this operation. Reports are that the marijuana had been smuggled into Suriname from Jamaica.
Koyeba, whose real name is Lowinzo Misiedjan, said that the dwindling economic situation in the country has pushed him to start selling drugs. He told the judge that his two “wives” are both pregnant at the moment and that he wanted to be able to assist them financially. He said that as a responsible father he wanted to make sure that all his children had food to eat and were well off financially.
The Judge extended his pre-detention.
Koyeba, who is of Maroon (Aucan) descent, is known as a skilled wordsmith who sings in Sranan Tongo, Aucan and Dutch and does not shy away from controversial subjects. Immensely popular, his arrest caused commotion in the community, with even outspoken parliamentarian Edward Belfort (ABOP) saying that he at first hesitated to believe that the artiste was really involved in drugs. “It could be that he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. I am waiting to hear what the police investigation will teach us,” Belfort had said shortly after Koyeba’s arrest.
It is not the first time Koyeba headlines controversy. His homophobic song “Bullet,” in which he preaches reserving bullets for gays, caused commotion last year when a rap group that he collaborated for it with wanted to tour the Netherlands. The group got blacklisted and their visit was even discussed in the Second Chamber. They returned to Suriname disillusioned, saying that they regretted ever doing the song. The track has meanwhile also been removed from YouTube.
