Starehe MP Charles Jaguar Arrested over Inciting Remarks against Foreigners

Police have arrested Starehe Member of Parliament Charles Njagua alias Jaguar over alleged inciting remarks against foreigners doing business in Nairobi.

Jaguar was arrested by plain-clothed police officers outside Parliament buildings on Wednesday afternoon.

This comes a day after he threatened to forcefully remove foreign traders from their shops in Nairobi.

"If you assess our markets, Ugandans and Tanzanians have taken over our businesses… Now we are saying enough is enough," saidJaguar when he visited traders along Kirinyaga Road.

The musician turned politician gave Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i 24 hours to deport all foreign nationals doing business in his constituency, failure to which he would mobilize youth to flush them out by force.

"If a 24-hour ultimatum is not enough for them to be deported, we will remove them and we’ll beat them up and we will not fear anyone,” said Jaguar.

His remarks forced the government to issue a statement assuring foreign investors of their security and that of their properties.

“We wish to state that this is not the position of the Government of the Republic of Kenya, and we denounce the comments carried in the video in the strongest terms possible,” government spokesperson Cyrus Oguna said.

“Such comments are unfortunate and have no place in today’s globalized environment. Kenyans are peace loving people who have over the years coexisted with others of different nationalities.”

Kenyans online condemned Jaguar, terming his remarks as “xenophobic.”