Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja and Embakasi East Member of Parliament Babu Owino have engaged in a heated exchange on social media for the past 24 hours, criticizing each other regarding their performance in city governance. Their dispute has set the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, abuzz with insults directed at Sakaja’s performance during his first year in office.
This clash began after a media report on Friday ranked Sakaja as one of the worst-performing Governors. On Saturday, Babu responded to the report by accusing Sakaja of embezzling county funds and purchasing properties overseas, stating, “Sakaja is an embarrassment to the people of Nairobi. How can you be ranked last out of 47 Counties? Kazi ni Kuiba pesa za Nairobi County and buying houses in America, London, and Dubai.”
Another media outlet later published a similar report, which prompted prominent lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi to label it as fake news. Governor Sakaja then defended his record, highlighting the accomplishments his administration had achieved, such as increased revenue collection, payments to community health volunteers, healthcare improvements, road construction, and various other projects.
Babu countered Sakaja’s claims, asserting that the ward-based funds were much less than Sakaja had stated and accusing him of misrepresenting the facts. This led to a back-and-forth argument between the two, with Sakaja explaining the difference between bursaries and Ward-based Development Funds (WDF) and defending his figures.
Their dispute then took a personal turn, with Babu making derogatory comments about Sakaja’s personal life and habits. Sakaja responded by accusing Babu of using cocaine and threatened to expose evidence of his involvement in embezzling county funds.
The ongoing feud between the two politicians is rooted in their aspirations for the Nairobi Gubernatorial seat in the 2027 General Election. Babu Owino believes he has what it takes to unseat Sakaja, whom he sees as merely holding the seat temporarily until the next election.