Malian musician accuses US custom officials of deliberately damaging his music instrument

A renowned musician from Mali says US customs officials have damaged his one-of-kind instrument beyond repair.

Ballaké Sissoko boarded a flight from New York to Paris on 4 February, after a two-week tour of the US.

After landing in the French capital, he said he had opened up the hard case containing his kora only to find the instrument broken into pieces.

Inside was a note, seemingly written by US officials, which read in Spanish: "Intelligent security saves time".

Luso Mnthali, a writer based in southern Africa, shared a photo of the dismantled instrument and a statement from BBC radio presenter and African music specialist Lucy Duran about the incident:

"These kinds of custom-made koras are simply impossible to replace," Durán said, noting that the neck, strings, bridge and amplification system "had been taken apart".

"Would customs have dared to dismantle a Stradivarius [violin]?" she added.

US customs officials have yet to reply to the BBC’s request for comment.

Last year, British Airways apologised to Guinean musician N'Faly Kouyate for damaging his kora by placing it in the plane’s hold, despite it being specially designed to meet hand luggage requirements.

US Customs officials destroyed renowned Mali musician Ballaké Sissoko's kora. pic.twitter.com/NxXIQthUec

— luso mnthali (@malabousaza) February 5, 2020