- “The number of years he has served in power is more than my years and therefore there is a time and a season for everything.”
- Babu said he did want to fire back because he wants Museveni to vote for Raila in the AUC election in February 2025.
Image: Babu Owino Press
Embakasi East MP Babu Owino on Wednesday yet again responded to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who criticised him for supporting his political opponents.
Owino regretted Museveni's comments about him but said he respects him as a grandfather and a revolutionary leader.
“The number of years he has served in power is more than my years, and therefore there is a time and a season for everything,” he said.
Museveni, while making his remarks during the official unveiling of Raila Odinga’s bid for the African Union Commission's (AUC) chairperson seat on Tuesday, said that some individuals in the opposition camp thought he didn't know what they were doing in his country (Uganda).
“There are some individuals in Raila's group who think I don’t 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,” the Ugandan president said.
The National Resistance Movement (NRM) is Uganda’s ruling party, led by Museveni.
On Wednesday, Babu said he did want to fire back because he wants Museveni to vote for Raila in the AUC election in February 2025.
“The current President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni came yesterday, and I don’t want him to lose his vote for Baba,” he said.
“I respect him and I recognise him as a revolutionary leader and there are those revolutionaries who ended up very badly.”
Babu named former African heads of state like Mobutu Seseko (Zaire) and Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe) as some of the leaders who came in as revolutionaries but ended on the wrong foot.
Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna also came to the defence of Babu.
Sifuna on Tuesday said Museveni should have used diplomatic channels to raise any complaints he could be having about the conduct of Babu.
“Whatever beef Museveni has with Babu Owino, I strongly object to the manner of his attack on a young Kenyan leader on our soil,” he said on X.
Sifuna further took issue with Museveni raising the matter at the launch of Raila’s bid.