Just like the ordinary Kenyan, celebrities and famous personalities too have a past. In some instances, their past experiences and exploits may have thrusted them into their present day famous lives.
A section of Kenyan celebrities have had run-ins with the law and others, led a life of crime before finding the righteous path.
In this segment, Whownskenya.com focuses on a number of them who have been involved or implicated in crime.
Daddy Owen
Papa Fololo as he is often referred to, had a life in crime before music made him famous.
In the late 90s leading up to 2001, Daddy Owen was a petty thief within the Central Business District and Umoja estate, where he lived with his family.
He was nearly killed during a robbery gone south and nearly lost an eye to an angry mob. He sustained a squint in one of his eyes, and that is why he wears sunglasses.
“It all happened in a split second. All I remember was lying down surrounded by a huge crowd who beat me up mercilessly. One poked my eye using a sharp instrument. Meanwhile, I could hear the rest urging someone to bring a car tyre to burn me alive,” he told Pulse during a past interview.
He was admitted to PCEA Kikuyu Hospital Eye Unit for a week and that is where he resorted to reform.
Most of the members of his gang were killed, and Daddy Owen acknowledges the beating as a turning point in his life.
King Kafu
Now a beloved presenter and fan favorite at Ghetto Radio, King Kafu spent one year behind bars in 2006. He was locked up at the Industrial Area Prison for allegedly stealing a phone from a shop in Luthuli Avenue, Nairobi CBD.
On the fateful day, he along with his friends had been surveilling shops that had been left unattended.
They alleged entered one of the shops to buy Ksh50 airtime and gave the attendant a Ksh1000 note. This prompted her to step outside to look for change and they started stealing phones in the process. Unfortunately for them, she returned too soon and raised alarm.
His friends managed to escape, but he was cornered and beaten up by attendants before being handed over to the police.
King Kafu, whose real name is Nicholas Cheruiyot, also spent six months in jail in 2002 after he was accused of stealing a camera.
He started out as a petty thief in the early 2000s snatching phones purses, jewelry and bags from people. He later graduated in to a hardcore criminal and acquired a gun for carjacking and raiding fund-raisers before he was arrested for robbery in 2006.
Shavey
A member of the duo Shavey and Slice famed for their hit single ‘gyal’ was some time back arrested over allegations of robbery. He allegedly broke into a house in Kayole and stole valuables.
He was arrested and paraded at the chief’s camp in Kayole where he admitted to breaking incident and was asked to pay.
Shavey has had several run-ins with the law while touting. Unfortunately, the artist passed away 2018 after a matatu plying the Kayole route ran him over.
Johnny Vigeti
One of the pioneer artists of Kenyan hip hop with Roba and Kama, Vigeti has seen the inside of a jail cell on numerous occasions.
His offences have been majorly drug related.
“Every little penny he gets is spent on acquiring drugs,” a member of Ukoo Flani told the media after bailing Vigeti out of the Industrial Area Prison a while back.
Stephen Okoth Ochieng
The former Naswa star was a while back charged with stealing a camera worth Ksh390,000. He was arrested after the camera belonging to his boss disappeared.
According to the charge sheet, Ochieng stole a Canon 5D Mark Two and 24 to 105 lens all valued at Ksh390,000 from the Wide Concept Africa offices along State House road in Nairobi between March 15 and March 17, 2014.
Roba
Roba, a member of pioneer hip-hop group Kalamashaka spent time behind bars for allegedly stealing a car side mirror.
Kennedy Okwako
Okwako, a Kenyan musician and MC based in Würzburg, Germany, was sentenced to eight years in Prison in 2014 for knowingly infecting various women with HIV AIDS.
He told the court that he was infected by German lover back in 1998 but maintained that his actions were not retaliatory.
Three of those who appeared in court included a housewife, a hairdresser and a 13-year-old.
“I didn’t want to hurt anybody. I promise never to have unprotected sex ever again,” Okwako told the court before the ruling.
Jackie Maribe and Joseph Irungu
Media personality Jackie Maribe and Joseph Irungu popularly known as Jowie, are facing charges in connection with the brutal murder of businesswoman Monica Kimani in Kilimani.
She was killed on the same day she had returned from South Sudan. Her brother found her lifeless body in the bath tub with her throat slit.
The two have since provided alibis but the case is ongoing.
Mtumishi
The funny man, whose real name is Gilbert Barasa, was knee deep in crime after dropping out of high school. Mutishi narrated how he was given an ultimatum of either joining the gang or getting killed. He opted for the former. He of his life in crime:
“They said I either had to join the gang or die. We started carjacking vehicles in Nairobi. We would be given intelligence about certain cars or targets and we would execute the orders…..”
