Willy Paul fires back at Diamond Platnumz's manager over Furaha City Festival drama

Singer Willy Paul has reignited his public feud with members of Tanzania's Wasafi Group after Diamond Platnumz's manager, Sallam SK, shared his version of what led to the headline act missing the stage at the controversial Furaha City Festival.

Speaking in a recent interview, Sallam claimed the night's chaos began when Willy Paul allegedly refused to leave the stage, delaying performances by the Wasafi team.

According to the manager, Zuchu was scheduled to perform next, but Willy Paul allegedly overstayed his allocated time.

"It was time for Zuchu to perform, but I already knew what would happen. They were given 10 minutes, but once they got on stage, they didn't want to leave and instead wanted to perform for 45 minutes to delay us so we wouldn't perform," Sallam claimed.

He added that he instructed Zuchu to proceed with her performance and later chose not to escalate the situation.

Sallam further revealed that while he ensured Zuchu completed her set, he could not convince Diamond Platnumz to take the stage after the alleged disagreement.

"I told them politely that we would discuss the matter later so we could leave peacefully. By then, the organisers had already contacted airport authorities, and since we were already airborne, we couldn't turn back. We later resolved the issue and buried the hatchet," he said.

The Furaha City Festival, held at the Nairobi Polo Club Grounds, ended with disappointed fans after Diamond Platnumz failed to perform despite being the event's headline act.

In a statement issued after the festival, organisers attributed the situation to a "minor security issue" involving another artist, insisting the matter was resolved quickly and that the event continued safely.

However, the organisers also criticised Diamond's team, saying they made every effort to accommodate the Bongo Flava superstar.

"Despite our best efforts, his team's behaviour and demands proved regrettable and unnecessarily overbearing," part of the statement read.

Diamond, on his part, blamed the organisers, claiming he had been kept waiting for more than three hours and had still not been called to perform by around 3 a.m.

"I think the organiser couldn't solve it, so my manager took me back to the hotel. It hurts, but what could I have done?" Diamond said in a video shared on his social media pages, adding that he had been looking forward to performing for his Kenyan fans.

Following Sallam's latest remarks, Willy Paul appeared to respond directly to the Wasafi manager in a message shared online.

"Sallam, I deeply respect you as a pioneer and greatly value the contributions you have made to the industry. At the same time, I kindly encourage you to continue upholding integrity and to consistently stand for what is right and true. I believe you are capable of even greater impact, and I trust you can do better," the singer wrote.

The renewed exchange has once again thrust the Furaha City Festival controversy back into the spotlight, with fans divided over who should shoulder the blame for one of the year's most talked-about concert disappointments.