“Vijana Riaah! Vijana Raah! Wazee Tibiim! Wazee Tialala!” is a clarion call that was coined and popularized by Babu Owino the Embakasi East MP and it has now morphed into an opposition mainstay that works up the crowd during rallies.

Azimio leader Raila Odinga also has a penchant of using the chant in his rallies, this just underscores the importance and influence the youthful and celebrated lawmaker has gained since joining mainstream politics in 2017 when he won the Embakasi East parliamentary contest.

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The 33 year old legislator was born and schooled in Kisumu where he attended Kisumu Township Primary before proceeding to Kisumu Boys High school for secondary school education.

He passed with flying colours and was admitted to Nairobi University in 2008 for a Bachelor’s degree in Actuarial Science and it was during his time in the University of Nairobi that he honed his political prowess.

In 2011 Babu Owino was elected chairperson of the Student Organization of Nairobi University and he shot to the limelight for his unwavering fight for the rights of university students or “comrades” as he fondly referred to them.

Many times he got into fights with the University administration and the government when he felt that they were undermining students.

As a flamboyant , fearless and much adored student leader, Babu Owino caused many problems for those who crossed his path. He organized strikes which most of the time turned chaotic and disrupted business in Nairobi to pressure either the government or the University administration.

Babu Owino always agitated for timely disbursement of HELB monies to the students and this made him well loved by all students countrywide.

During his time at the helm, students countrywide never lost a battle with anyone including the government when they tried hiking university fees.

It was for this reason that he was elected four times to head the students organization and he remains the longest serving SONU chairman to date. He was also elected Chairman of all university students in kenya under the Kenya Union of University Students Organization (KUSO)

In 2017, the youthful politician rose to National limelight and the man passed the litmus test by winning the Embakasi East parliamentary contest despite attempts by the government to meddle.

His presence in the political arena always sent shivers to his political opponents and brought admiration to his supporters.

Fast forward to 2022 and he was re-elected overwhelmingly as Embakasi East MP majorly because of the work he has done for his constituents. The Lawmaker has utilized Constituency Development Fund for the benefit of his constituents and he has indeed transformed their lives through infrastructure development where he has tarmacked many roads in his constituency.

But the biggest investment has been in education. The former student leader has shown his passion and dedication to the education of children by building many schools from scratch, improving the existing ones and offering bursaries to the needy students.

Just to show his passion for the students, the celebrated MP took students through online classes when schools had been closed over the Covid-19 pandemic.

He also went on to prepare students with tuition before they sat for the national exams, when results were announced, we all saw how parents and students singled out the Embakasi East MP with much platitude for the work he had done.

Quoting Wafula Buke who was at one time the SONU chairman, “I have seen people rise in politics, but I have never seen a steady rise like that of Babu Owino. He has made leaps that can only be compared to what the late Tom Mboya did” Said Mr Wafula in praise of the young legislator

His stature in the Kenyan political scene cannot be gainsaid, the smart politician has become a darling of the masses and he is even being touted to be the natural successor of Azimio leader Raila Odinga’s political bastion.

He has made a following among the youths such that they always give MCs a hard time during rallies as they always demand for him to speak ahead of other leaders.

There was even a time when the Azimio brigade took their rallies to Kisii and Hon Babu was not present but the crowd kept demanding for him to address the gathering.

Given his popularity across the nation especially amongst the youths,his guile, wit and charisma, couple this with his tenacity to fight battles to the very end till he wins, together with the development track record, he is being mentioned alot in the succession matrix both in Nairobi county and the whole nation.

Indeed a chick that will one day be a mighty rooster is seen when still young. Babu Owino has proven himself and won his laurels, he can only climb higher.