Bongo star Naseeb Abdul, alias Diamond Platnumz has threatened to relocate to Kenya after brushing shoulders with Tanzania authorities.
On Friday, May 6 2022, the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) banned Diamond’s song featuring Zuchu dubbed Mtasubiri over a church scene.
At the beginning of the music video, Zuchu and other actors are seen dancing inside a church while wearing matching outfits before she storms out of the church as the song begins.
In a statement signed by Director General Jabiri Bakari, TCRA moved to ban the song arguing that is is blasphemous and disrespectful to the church.
“In that video, there is a clip showing the two are singing in a church choir then goes somewhere else. That part has fuelled not-so good debate from certain religious people. It shows disrespect to certain religious denominations,” the statement read.
TCRA further warned local TV stations and digital platforms from playing the song unless the disrespectful scene is edited out.
At the time of publishing, the song had amassed more than 11 million YouTube views and had 150,000 likes.
Reacting to the ban, Diamond, a billionaire businessman, took to social media to counter the ban arguing that TCRA was targeting him unfairly.
“I’m asking myself what I did wrong in this scene. Did they wear miniskirts? No. Did they twerk or make verbal abuse in church? No. Did you smoke cigarettes or marijuana in there? No. Did you kiss or consume alcohol? No,” he posed.
The multitalented singer argued that the church scene was totally fine since no one did anything wrong inside the church.
“When the phone rang, did she pick it up inside the church? Are we the first ones to shoot in a church?There are others who’ve shot videos and movies inside churches and have done things that are disrespectful. Did their songs get banned? No,” Diamond added.
Following the ban, Diamond’s elder brother and his personal deejay, Romy Jones noted that the ainger has plans to relocate to Kenya.
“Mdogo wangu Diamond ana mpango wa kujenha Kenya afu tuamie kule,” Romy Jones wrote.