Jaymo Decin Is Being Hunted By Police For Comedy Skit On President Ruto

James better known to his 1.7 million TikTok followers as Jaymo Decin, or simply "Choke Jingli"  has spent years making Kenya laugh. He has impersonated pastors, politicians, journalists, musicians and American presidents with a seamless, almost supernatural ability to inhabit a character. He has been celebrated, gone viral internationally, and won Comedian of the Year at the 2025 Pulse Awards. But on May 6, 2026, the laughter stopped at least briefly when Jaymo revealed that unknown callers identifying themselves as DCI officers had been ringing him, demanding he present himself at DCI headquarters in Nairobi for interrogation. The reason: a comedy skit in which he imitated President William Ruto.

In a statement that quickly went viral, Jaymo was visibly rattled. "Mbona askari wananitafuta, na hiyo ilikuwa comedy tu?" he said  why are police looking for me, when that was just comedy? He went on to describe the calls from numbers he didn't recognise, with the callers claiming to be from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and insisting he appear at their headquarters for interrogation on grounds of imitating and disrespecting the President. "Jameni, kosa yangu iko wapi?" he asked people, where exactly is my mistake?

It is a question that cuts to the heart of a broader conversation Kenya has been having about the limits of satire, free expression, and the growing anxiety among creatives about where the line sits between comedy and criminality.

Jaymo Decin is not a fringe figure. He is one of Kenya's most widely followed content creators, a multi-platform phenomenon who built his following from nothing through sheer comic genius and relentless creativity. Known for his character "Choke Jingli," he rose to fame through uncanny impressions that spare nobody  pastors, including the fiery Prophet Owuor, politicians such as Oburu Oginga, media personalities like veteran broadcaster Jeff Koinange, musicians, dancers, and foreign leaders including Donald Trump. His impersonations are not malicious  they are absurdist, affectionate, and razor-sharp in their observation of the mannerisms and speech patterns of their subjects. Even those he mocks tend to find it funny.

His career has been a masterclass in reading a room  or rather, reading an entire nation. When ODM's internal politics blew up earlier in 2026 over Edwin Sifuna's removal as secretary general, Jaymo had a full skit out within hours, playing Jeff Koinange interviewing Oburu Oginga in a piece that cracked the internet. When IShowSpeed visited Kenya in January 2026 and pushed Jaymo during a live appearance, the incident sparked a national conversation about respect for local creators  with city officials publicly demanding an apology on his behalf. Even Prophet Owuor, whom Jaymo has impersonated memorably, reportedly "sentenced him to the lake of fire"  which Jaymo turned into yet another punchline.

This, in other words, is a man whose entire identity is the comedy of imitation. And now, the state appears to want him to answer for it.

The timing is significant. Kenya has seen an increasingly tense relationship between the government and those who dare to mock or challenge those in power. An MP was summoned to DCI after calling the President "mad." A man was arrested for allegedly impersonating the President's daughter online. The space for dissent  even comic dissent  has been visibly narrowing. Critics argue that summoning a comedian for doing comedy is not just disproportionate, but dangerous, sending a chilling message to every creative in the country: watch yourself.

Jaymo Decin has not confirmed whether he will comply with the summons or what his next steps are. But in a country where laughter has long been one of the few tools ordinary people have to speak truth to power, his four words carry enormous weight  "Kosa yangu iko wapi?"

That, Kenya, is the real question.
https://www.maatribune.co.ke/2026/05/jaymo-decin-is-being-hunted-by-police.html