Babu Owino throws latest jab at Governor Sakaja, accuses him of incompetence and corruption

Embakasi East Member of Parliament Babu Owino has taken another swipe at the leadership of Nairobi County, claiming that Governor Johnson Sakaja is unwise and incompetent. 

Speaking on Wednesday when he was hosted on Standard Group's Vybez Radio, Babu insisted that he does not have beef with the Governor.

"I don't have beef with Sakaja. I am questioning rightful things, like the corruption cases and the school feeding programme." 

Nairobi's problem is not one of cartels or the governor being held at ransom, but a failure in leadership.

"Nairobi's headaches are due to lack of knowledge, lack of wisdom, lack of intelligence by the governor," the legislator said. "I cannot be held at ransom in Embakasi East because I am working. Infotrack ranked Nairobi County 43rd out of 47 counties. That shows you the boss, the governor, is incompetent. He lied to us, when he was starting, that Nairobi's tax collection revenue was very high, but that was just PR. If the collection was high, where is that money going?"

An Infotrack survey which was carried out from July to September 2023, encompassing all 47 counties, 290 constituencies, and 1450 wards, with a total sample size of 58,748 participants, ranked Embakasi East legislator as one of the best performing in Nairobi.

Babu Owino emerged as the top in Nairobi, earning a 60% approval rating. He was closely followed by Westlands MP Timothy Wanyonyi with 58%, Embakasi Central MP Benjamin Gathiru with 56% and Embakasi North MP James Mwangi with 55% which seemed to indicate the entire Embakasi region as the best in the development ratings.

Sakaja, Babu insisted, has failed to curb the corruption happening under his watch.

"He is very aware of what is happening. There are corruption cases he is involved in, files at EACC and information provided by the DCI."

He added: "I'm not going after the Governor; it is important to respect someone who is in power, so that when it is my turn I am also respected. But it is also important to keep checks and balances under the doctrine of separation of powers. I am also a voter and a member of Nairobi county. I also deserve county services, like other people in Embakasi."

To Governor Sakaja, Babu says: "You're a young man. You don't need to steal from Kenyans. Just work for them, do your job."