Help, not love: I trusted Fally Ipupa with my dream, I was left in fear

Congolese musician Fally Ipupa. [Courtesy]

For nearly three years, an Australian-based Congolese woman says she believed she had found someone who could help advance her charitable work. Instead, she alleges, the relationship descended into manipulation, broken promises, explicit online exchanges, intimidation and threats that have left her and her family living in fear.

Collette Tuzaa, founder of Collette Foundations, an international non-profit organisation, says her interaction with Congolese musician Fally Ipupa began on Instagram three years ago after she posted that she was listening to his music.

According to her, he shared her post on his Instagram story, prompting her to contact him about composing a song for her foundation. “I thought it was an opportunity to talk about my foundation and how he could help,” she says.

Tuzaa claims the conversation soon shifted away from music. She says Fally asked for her Snapchat account, after which they began communicating through video calls. She alleges that he requested she undress so he could confirm she was the same person from Instagram. “I told him I only wanted to discuss the song, but he got angry,” she recalls.

Explicit photos

Despite the uncomfortable encounter, Tuzaa says communication continued. She alleges that over the following months Fally sent her explicit photographs and encouraged sexual conversations.

She says that, after months of pressure, she eventually reciprocated by sharing intimate images and engaging in online sexual activity because she believed he would honour promises to support her personally and assist her charitable work.

During this period, Tuzaa says she was experiencing financial difficulties while caring for vulnerable children through her foundation. She alleges that when she requested financial assistance to buy food for the children, she was instead accused of being a “gold digger”.

“He laughed at me in a voice note. I felt humiliated, but I continued believing he would eventually help me,” she says.

The relationship later moved beyond online communication. Tuzaa says she travelled to Kinshasa in 2024 after being promised assistance in obtaining a Congolese passport within four days.

She says she paid for her travel and expected the process to be completed quickly. Instead, she alleges she remained in Kinshasa for nearly three weeks waiting for documents that never materialised. “He told me not to leave the hotel and sent people to collect my travel documents, including my Australian passport. Every day I was told to wait,” she says.

Tuzaa says she left the Democratic Republic of Congo when she was four years old and was excited to reconnect with her country of birth. However, she claims she spent most of her stay confined to a hotel room and unable to explore the city.

As the days passed, she says her family became increasingly concerned after losing contact with her. She alleges she was eventually blocked on Snapchat and Instagram, leaving her without direct communication. After appealing to one of his associates, she says she was assisted in returning to Australia but never received the passport she had been promised.

According to Tuzaa, Fally later asked her to travel back to the Democratic Republic of Congo, but she declined. “I was never looking for love. All I wanted was for him to help market my business and support the work I was doing,” she says.

She says she continued trying to maintain a professional relationship. On one occasion, she claims that when Fally travelled from Europe to the DRC, she sent members of her team to welcome him with flowers, hoping for a photograph or public acknowledgement that could help promote her foundation. “That never happened,” she says.

Tuzaa further alleges that after details of the dispute became public, she was offered US$10,000 (Sh1.3 million) to stop media coverage of the matter. She says communication later resumed after he told her the controversy could damage his marriage and public reputation.

She alleges that relations deteriorated further this year as she repeatedly demanded that the promises be fulfilled. She claims Fally said he had powerful connections and warned that she would “go nowhere” if she pursued the matter.

The most disturbing developments, she says, came when threats allegedly extended beyond her. Tuzaa claims that she and members of her family in DRC and Uganda received threats. She also alleges she was warned that intimate photographs and videos exchanged during their online interactions would be released if she spoke publicly.

“He has shared my intimate videos and threatened to release more if I tell my story. My family is now living in fear. They have been threatened, and I have been threatened with death,” she says.

She further alleges that a man she identifies as the musician’s brother warned her that she would “die slowly” and would not know how it would happen.

Family conflict

Tuzaa says the dispute also caused conflict within her own family, many of whom initially doubted her account and believed she was attempting to damage the musician’s reputation.

“It was painful because they didn’t know everything that had happened between us. I had never told them about the sexual conversations because I was ashamed,” she says.

Tuzaa maintains that despite years of communication, promises and meetings, she never received any financial assistance. “I have never received even a single dollar from him,” she says.

Today, she says she continues to suffer emotionally from the experience. “I don’t sleep. I am constantly stressed. I have lived with fear, humiliation and anxiety. I only wanted him to keep the promises he made. Instead, my family and I now live with threats,” she says.

Efforts by The Nairobian to obtain a response from Fally Ipupa were unsuccessful. On Tuesday, 4 August 2026, the publication sent him questions seeking his response. A reminder was sent the following morning, but he did not provide a response. Later that day, further messages and follow-up calls were made, but he did not respond.