Embakasi East MP Babu Owino arrested for insulting President Uhuru

Embakasi East MP Paul Ongili Owino aka Babu Owino

Embakasi East MP Paul Ongili Owino aka Babu Owino has been arrested over alleged abusive remarks on President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Police are investigating claims Owino made hate speech and abusive words in Kawangware when he addressed crowds there on Sunday.

He is alleged to have referred unnamed person as “a son of bitch” (motto wa mbwa).

Officers at the DCI headquarters were ordered to study the clip that captured the said utterances for possible action.

In the clip, he doesn’t mention the name of the person he is referring to as a dog.

It was then that the team tracked him to Kilimani area and arrested him. He was taken to DCI headquarters for grilling.

His colleagues said he informed them through a WhatsApp message he had been arrested and was headed for DCI headquarters.

But Owino went to the social media saying he had nothing to apologise about what he said.

“I will not apologize to anyone because I called nobody’s name during my yesterday’s address.”

“We have so many presidents in Kenya, from the President of Sonu to all presidents of students union in Kenya, President of the Supreme Court, President of Youth senate and many more. However I will stick to objective politics and will never abuse anybody,” he said in a Facebook post.

Later in the day, groups believed to be supporters of president Kenyatta staged protests along Thika Road at Githurai, Juja Town, Thika Town, Githunguri, Limuru, Githurai, Ruiru and Gatundu and Kiambu town calling for the arrest of Owino. The groups blocked the roads for hours as police watched from a distance inconveniencing many motorists and pedestrians.

They used twigs and stones to block the roads while some of the protesters lit bonfires.

It was until about 3pm that police moved to the sites to disperse the groups using tear gas canisters. By then, the protesters had blocked the roads for up to four hours.

Police have been cracking down on hate speech and incitement claims and have targeted politicians over the same.

Two weeks ago, Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria and former Machakos Senator Johnstone Muthama were arrested and charged with incitement. They were released on cash bail as the case goes on.