“Nairobi Needs Tested Leadership”- Babu Owino Defends His Reason For Ousting Sakaja As Nairobi Governor

Embakasi East Member of Parliament Babu Owino has defended his bid for the Nairobi gubernatorial seat in the 2027 General Election, citing his constituency track record and legislative ranking as proof of his capacity to manage the capital city.

Owino, who is mounting his county campaign under The Mwananchi Party (TMP) within the broader Linda Mwananchi coalition, argued that successful constituency management translates directly into effective county governance.

“So long as you can be given the responsibility of managing a constituency and you do it well, then it’s only fair that you can manage a county also fairly well,” Owino said in a video interview posted to his social media platforms on Monday, September 28, 2026.

The lawmaker pointed to his top ranking in the 2026 Infotrak CountyTrak Performance Index, where he secured an 80 percent approval rating to place first among Kenya’s 290 elected MPs. The survey, conducted between January and May 2026 across all 47 counties, evaluated legislators on service delivery, accessibility, responsiveness, and Constituency Development Fund (CDF) utilization. Owino asserted that these recurring high marks demonstrate tested leadership and operational discipline.

Turning his focus to county leadership, the lawmaker sharply criticized previous and current city administrations, accusing sitting Governor Johnson Sakaja of surrendering constitutional mandates to the national government. Owino made specific reference to the KSh 80 billion cooperation framework signed by Sakaja in February 2026, which handed over significant financial and operational control of key county functions to national authorities.

“If a Governor is relieving himself from the responsibilities that he was given by Nairobians; responsibilities of doing roads, giving them fresh and sufficient supply of water, creating a good environment for business, creating jobs, dealing with health and education…if you see a governor releasing those responsibilities to the national government, it tells you that the governor is incompetent,” Owino stated.

He outlined his policy focus for Nairobi, promising targeted interventions in infrastructure, reliable urban water distribution, timely payment of county healthcare workers, and conducive business environments.

Addressing questions regarding his political appeal and early background, Owino rejected assertions that his candidacy relies on ethnic mobilization, pointing out that his political base in Embakasi East includes strong support from diverse communities, including a large Kikuyu demographic. He also defended his past tenure as a four-term student leader at the University of London-affiliated institutions, arguing that repeated endorsement by intellectual peers proved his early capacity for public leadership and service delivery.