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Bobi Wine friend Babu Owino retains Embakasi East MP seat by alot

Embakasi East Member of Parliament in Kenya and Uganda Opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu also known as Bobi Wine (PHOTO /File /UG Standard)

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) declared Paul Ongili, also known as Babu Owino, the winner of the Embakasi East parliamentary seat on Thursday.

The legislator, who ran on an ODM ticket, was successful in keeping his position after receiving 57,410 votes.

His closest contender, Francis Mureithi who ran under a UDA ticket, managed to garner a total of 29,104 votes.

Babu was later joined by a team of his supporters who shared an electrifying moment of songs and dance before addressing the press.

He thanked his supporters for electing him and promised to serve the people of Embakasi East with integrity for the next five years.

Kenyans on social media had last year reacted angrily to a video in which National Unity Platform (NUP) leader Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine was seen supporting Babu Owino, a politician accused of attempted murder.

In the video posted on social media, Mr Kyagulanyi was then seen rallying Kenyans from the Embakasi constituency to re-elect his friend Babu Owino as a Member of Parliament.

“I am sending greetings to the people of Kenya and more particularly of Embakasi East where my brother Babu Owino comes from. I want to remind you that it’s very important to assert your constitutional right. Please register, and make sure you are able to vote and of course, when you go out to vote, vote my brother Babu Owino. Let’s do this, let’s assert ourselves,” Bobi Wine said in the video.

Babu Owino, whose real name is Paul Ongili was charged in a Kenyan court in January 2020, after he shot at a popular DJ Felix Odhiambo commonly known as DJ Evolve. The two had a brawl in a bar that resulted in Owino pulling out a pistol and fired at DJ Evolve.

It’s against this background that Kenyans felt betrayed by Bobi Wine supporting a person accused of attempted murder.

In an interview with NTV Uganda, Bobi Wine defended his love for Babu Owino saying
he made the comments after meeting Babu Owino whom he described as a reformed man, in Kenya where he had traveled over then.

The former presidential candidate said he takes responsibility for the comments he made to endorse MP Babu Owino who has been his friend since 2018 when he (Babu Owino) came out to support his cause to ‘champion human rights.’

According to him, Babu Owino reconciled with his alleged victim.

“I was in Kenya over the weekend and we met…Yes I encouraged Kenyans to register to vote and I must say I endorsed him for reelection in his constituency where he’s a sitting MP but again I cannot pretend not to listen to the voices of the Kenyans calling me out. I’m aware that Hon Babu Owino was involved in some altercation in a bar brawl which was unfortunate. I spoke to him about it and he informed me that they have since mended fences with his victim and they are living like brothers. He’s been able to go past that but like I said, as a leader I’m accountable to people in Uganda and East Africa and I should have been more careful, and for that I take responsibility because I respect the people of Kenya and I think we, as leaders owe it to them to act what we preach. And while I know that the Hon Babu has rightly been a reformed man has a made every effort to be representative of every value that we profess as a generation but I also owe it to the people of Kenya and for that I take responsibility”, he said.

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