Starehe Member of the National Assembly Charles Njagua popularly known as Jaguar, on Wednesday, sent out a plea to the state moments before his arrest.
In an interview with K24 TV, the former entertainer asked the state to probe the rising cases of Chinese hawkers in Kenya arguing that they offered unnecessary competition to locals.
He further divulged that the government should investigate whether the Chinese were qualified to carry out hawking business and how they got the licenses permitting them to trade in Kenya.
"We summoned CS Matiang'i (Fred) about the same issue and he told us that they were working to ensure that those Chinese are removed from where they operate but if you go to the ground, it is completely different.
"They (Chinese) are still operating, they are the wholesalers, they are the retailers. What we are asking is if they have permits, we want to know how they were able to acquire the permits for hawking," he posed.
"I am asking the government to protect the people doing that kind of business in the country just like other countries like Tanzania and Uganda do," he added.
He further took the opportunity to compare how other countries like China and Tanzania treat foreigners while protecting its local traders with how Kenya does the same.
"Here you will find people have IDs while others married yet in China you would not be allowed to hawk even when you are married to a local of that country," he argued.
He also took the opportunity to put his Monday rant that went viral on social media in proper context explaining that he meant the Chinese and not all foreigners.
"I was making a case for my people and we did not mean that we would beat and kick all foreigners out. What I meant was that we did not want them to compete with our small traders," he explained.
Jaguar was arrested at Parliament buildings following the remarks that were termed as xenophobic.
A video of the MP threatening to round up all foreign traders operating in Nairobi and march them to the airport for deportation went viral capturing the attention of the Tanzanian government.
On Tuesday, Tanzanian Speaker Job Ndugai ordered his government to promptly issue a statement on the safety of their nationals in Kenya after the MP made the rant.
“I order the government to issue a statement before the close of business today (Tuesday),” proclaimed Ndugai who termed the remark as xenophobic.
