Embakasi East MP Babu Owino has responded to criticism from his Saboti counterpart, Caleb Amisi, who accused him of taking credit for roads constructed by the national government.
Speaking on Wednesday, two days after Amisi’s remarks, Babu questioned why national government projects would allegedly only focus on his constituency and not others, including Saboti.
“I also thought that Caleb Amisi was my friend, but anyway, it is another bitter soul detected,” Babu said, adding that the criticisms stemmed from jealousy over the success of Embakasi East.
He emphasized that no road projects in his constituency were directly funded or built by him, noting that the national government always posts about development projects.
“I want to tell you clearly that if the national government were doing roads in Embakasi East as Caleb Amisi is claiming, how come the same government is not doing roads in his constituency or in other constituencies? Any road and any project that the national government does, they always post,” he said.
Babu further questioned why a national government whose policies he frequently opposed would choose to deliver developments exclusively in his area.
To Amisi, he advised focusing on serving constituents rather than issuing criticisms:
“He should be like me—work for the interests of his people instead of being bitter.”
Background: On Monday, October 27, Amisi appeared on Obinna TV claiming that the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) is responsible for all road developments in Nairobi County. He argued that Babu merely took photos of KURA projects in Embakasi East, while other MPs’ areas were receiving similar work unnoticed.
“That is not Babu's work. It is the work of KURA that covers the whole of Nairobi. What Babu does is just come and take the photo and post, but others are being done, and the MPs are not taking the photos,” Amisi said.
Amisi added that in his Saboti constituency, a road from Shanti to Matisi is under construction, but he refrains from posting about it, calling such actions “dishonest.”
Both MPs are part of the evolving political movement Kenya Moja, recently renamed Kenya Mpya, which includes other notable politicians such as Edwin Sifuna and Gathoni Wamuchomba.