The disclosure by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni that Kenyan lawmaker Babu Owino has become a common feature in classified briefings by his intelligence services has added to a string of controversies associated with the Embakasi East MP.
With former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s bid for chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC) appearing to create a political void that some leaders are now positioning themselves to fill, Owino is among those jostling for visibility.
On the day President Museveni was criticising him at State House, Nairobi, in the presence of his host President William Ruto , the outspoken Owino, who has been crisscrossing the country to rally support, just in case Mr Odinga formally throws in the towel, was teaming up with a rival faction in the opposition coalition that wants to oust the former premier as Azimio la Umoja leader.
In his quest for a bigger political role, Mr Owino has received criticism from a section of Kenyan leaders, but it was the Tuesday outburst by President Museveni that came as a surprise.
For a moment, Mr Museveni’s statement sent the hall into silence when he started by saying that some leaders in Mr Odinga’s camp did not know what they were doing.
“There are some individuals in Raila's group who I don’t think know what they are doing. I am a consumer of intelligence services. I always see intelligence service reports. There's a character called Babu. I always see Babu dealing with anti-NRM groups in Uganda,” President Museveni said.
Museveni accuses Babu Owino of supporting his political opponents
He went on to say that despite knowing this, he has never accused Babu of it, until when he made the statement on Tuesday.
“I have never accused him, but now I am accusing him,” Mr Museveni said.
He was addressing the gathering attended by four Heads of State including host President William Ruto, South Sudan’s Salva Kiir, Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu and Burundi Prime Minister Gervais Ndirakobuca, among a host of other dignitaries including retired presidents Olusegun Obasanjo (Nigeria) and Jakaya Kikwete (Tanzania).
Mr Owino, a close ally of Uganda opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, has been hosted by the Uganda’s National Unity Platform (NUP) president in Uganda on many occasions, events that Ugandan authorities have insisted bordered on acts of “subversion.”
The Embakasi East MP has also hosted Mr Kyagulanyi in Kenya, sometimes individually and other times under the umbrella of Kenya Young Parliamentarians Association (KYPA).
Mr Owino has also on several occasions criticised President Museveni, even calling for his ouster, sentiments that appear to have rankled the Ugandan strongman.
“Bobi Wine must be president of Uganda by ballot or bullet. Museveni to prison, back to the forest or to hell,” Mr Owino posted on his Facebook account on July 24, 2019.
Following the arrest of Mr Kyagulanyi at the height of anti-government protests in Uganda in 2020, Mr Owino criticized Mr Museveni, saying he would be brought down.
“My brother and friend Bobi Wine you will overcome. We will bring Museveni down,” Mr Owino wrote on November 20, 2020.
Mr Owino has even in the past mobilised Kenyan young legislators for press conferences to push for the release of Mr Kyagulanyi, with Mr Museveni being on the receiving end over such arrests.
This seems to have been boiling up, leading to Mr Museveni’s Tuesday flare-up against the Embakasi East ODM legislator.
“As Babu Owino, I stand for a democratic society where a child in Kenya will receive proper medication, education and will equally get a job.
“Equally a child in Uganda should receive the same treatment as a child in Kenya. Because of this, we must offer alternative visions of leadership that will save Africans from the shackles of oppression and the jaws of poverty,” Mr Owino told Nation on Wednesday, in an apparent jibe at Mr Museveni.
Mr Owino’s attacks on Mr Museveni are however, not new, but date back to more than five years ago.
Ugandan opposition politician Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, with Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua at Ufungamano House in Nairobi on November 17, 2022.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
In November 2020, then Uganda’s minister of Internal Affairs Haji Abubakar allegedly wrote to Kenya's Foreign Affairs CS Monica Juma accusing the legislator of undermining President Museveni’s government through acts of “subversion,” and declared him persona non grata in the neighbouring country.
In the letter dated November 8, Mr Abubakar wrote that, “Our attention is drawn to the joint subversive activities of Robert Kyagulanyi popularly known as Bobi Wine and his Kenyan counterpart Babu Owino to undermine the legitimately elected government of the Republic of Uganda.
“The purpose of this letter is to make it known that Honorable Babu Owino is officially declared as persona non grata within the borders of Uganda and will not be permitted entry without special clearance from the Ministry of Internal Affairs,” the letter stated in part.
“During Bobi Wine’s visit to Kenya last month, Babu hosted Wine in a number of functions and events. The duo uttered inflammatory and seditious words against the democratic and legitimate rule of President Yoweri Museveni. Any person found aiding or abetting the violation of this directive will be in contravention of a legal order and will be liable for prosecution," the letter further read.
But a section of Kenyan leaders, including ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna, Lugari MP Nabii Nabwera and Githunguri’s Gathoni Wa Muchomba have come out to defend Mr Owino after the Tuesday censure by President Museveni.
Mr Sifuna said President Museveni should have used diplomatic channels to raise any complaints on the conduct of the ODM legislator.
“Whatever beef Museveni has with Babu Owino, I strongly object to the manner of his attack on a young Kenyan leader on our soil,” Mr Sifuna said.
The ODM official said Kenya is a country ruled by law and if there is any objectionable conduct on the part of Mr Owino, there are diplomatic channels to convey that to Kenyan authorities and let the law take its cause.
“To use a presidential podium to make such grave accusations against a Kenyan is a No!,” Mr Sifuna said.
Mr Nabwera said President Museveni’s attacks on Mr Owino had put democracy and tenets of diplomatic principles to test.
“The rights of a young Kenyan have been badly abused in the full glare of International community and local leadership. The attack by Museveni on the person of Babu using presidential dais and protocol during an African event of International standards stems of impunity and misuse of Presidential etiquette and immunity. It is meant to intimidate young democratic minds, demean Kenyans and dehumanize our friendliness,” the Lugari MP said.
President Museveni, he said, cannot use Kenyan State House to demean, attack and intimidate a leader elected by thousands of people. It goes against diplomatic etiquette, Principles and standards of raising a complaint against a citizen of another Country.
Mr Nabwera noted that Kenya and Uganda enjoy diplomatic relations within which there are legal frameworks on how to raise a complaint against any citizen whom by any standards may have breached international protocols.
Ms Wamuchomba also questioned why a foreign president would use an international presidential platform to castigate a young Kenyan parliamentarian.
“I saw leaders giggle as if he was making a ‘good’ joke. This was uncalled for,” the Githunguri MP said.
Mr Nabwera pointed out that president Museveni, by any standards demeaned the very meaning of the function whose major agenda is oneness and dignity of an African Person.
“Babu I truly stand with you and ask Kenyans of goodwill to stand with Babu. Kenyan is not a Province of Uganda. Babu deserves respect, Kenya deserves respect,” added the Lugari MP.
