Charles the ‘Jaguar’, Kenyan MP accused of incitement

DAR ES SALAAM,

Kenyan MP Charles Njagua, aka Jaguar, is the man of the moment for all the wrong reasons, and for that, he is spending the weekend in police cells.

The Starehe MP was arrested on Wednesday after issuing remarks against foreign investors that have described as xenophobic and inciting.

A ruling will be made on Wednesday on whether police should detain him 14 more days for investigations.

PEACE SCHOLAR

Jaguar, as he is popularly known to his fan base in the music industry, is a graduate of Bachelor of Arts in Peace Studies and Conflict Management. He attained second class honours at Mt Kenya University.

According to information on the lawmaker’s education background posted on the Kenyan Parliament’s website, he enrolled for the course in 2015 and graduated in 2018.

The fact that a peace and conflict management scholar can threaten to ‘beat up and deport’ foreign nationals from China, Tanzania, Uganda, and Pakistan, who engage in trade downtown Nairobi, appears to have shocked many, including his compatriots.

In a video that went viral, the MP said: “Foreigners have taken over the automobile business in Kenya.”

Oblivious of the dangers his xenophobic remarks could bring, he continued: “There are hundreds of foreigners doing the hawking business here ... we shall not accept to be enslaved by foreigners in our own country.”

Kenyan blogger Abraham Mutai has described him as “a mistake we are trying to rectify.”

EARLY LIFE

But who is this man Jaguar?

Reports show the urban-pop musician has two siblings. He grew up in the suburbs of Nairobi where he attended school.

At the age of 11, Jaguar lost his mother who, by then, was their only guardian. He was forced to sign up for informal employment, doing several odd jobs to earn a living.

Through struggles working as a hawker in Nairobi’s Public Service Vehicles, and support from friends, Jaguar managed to get the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education in 2001 from Senior Chief Koinange Secondary School, as shown in the lawmaker’s information posted on Parliament’s website.

MUSIC

Jaguar first made forays as a recording artiste in 2004, when he released his first Single ‘Utaweza Kweli’ under the Mandugu Digitali record label.

He joined East Africa’s music powerhouse, Ogopa Deejays, in 2005, where he recorded and released several singles including his most successful hit single ‘Kigeugeu’, through which he takes issue with selfish people including politicians.

In 2013, Jaguar began recording with Main Switch Studios founded by one of his long-serving record producers, Philip Makanda, formerly of Ogopa Deejays.

This transition didn’t come short of any releases and he has been a part of the stable to date.

He has since recorded several hit singles including ‘Kipepeo’, ‘Kioo’ and ‘One Centimetre’, a collaboration featuring popular Nigerian artiste, Iyanya.

He also featured popular South African duo, Mafikizolo, in his single titled ‘Going Nowhere.’

ELECTION

On August 9, 2017, Jaguar was elected to serve the constituency of Starehe in Nairobi on a Jubilee Party ticket after defeating Steve Mbogo, activist Boniface Mwangi and Mwaniki Kwenya.

He had defeated incumbent MP Maina Kamanda in a hotly contested nomination race for the Jubilee ticket in April 2017.

The musician campaigned on the platform of working with donors and organisations to support development projects for the constituents of Starehe, among other pledges.

ENTREPRENEUR

Jaguar is also described as an entrepreneur and a philanthropist.

He has, over the years, established his own enterprises that have now become very lucrative businesses.

Besides his music business, Jaguar owns a fleet of personal luxury cars and is known to have investments in real estate as well as the transport and aviation industry.

THE ARREST

The MP was arrested at around 12.45pm on Wednesday as he walked out of Parliament Buildings to his constituency office at Continental House

He was apprehended by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, who arrived at around 10 am in unmarked navy blue and green Subaru cars.

They laid siege on Harambee Avenue and Parliament Road, just outside the two exits from Parliament, the Nation reported.

“As the legislator walked out, nearly 10 officers in plain clothes rounded him up and asked him to accompany them to the Nairobi Police Regional headquarters. One pulled out handcuffs but the MP successfully pleaded against being bound.”

Jaguar was then bundled into a navy-blue Subaru and driven away, the officers not stating why they made the move.

The arrest came a day after the Tanzanian government sought clarity from the Kenyan mission in Tanzania. The envoy assured its host government that Kenyan authorities would summon the lawmaker to explain what he actually meant by the statement.

"MISINTERPRETED"

In a Twitter post on Wednesday, Jaguar defended himself, saying his statement was “greatly misinterpreted.”

He wrote, “I mean peace for the country and businesses should go on uninterrupted. All foreigners are welcome to our country. I am not against any regional unions that are meant to promote both local and regional trade."

According to the Kenyan Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Jaguar will face charges of incitement to violence over his utterances.

Amid the probe, some social media users say he was trying to be a populist but ended up creating a diplomatic farce.

Jaguar got on the wrong side of the law in 2017, when he was charged with killing two people - boda boda rider Mugo Mwangi and his passenger Joseph Maingi - in a road accident.

The court found him guilty and fined him Sh20,000, the alternative being six months' imprisonment.