Piece by: ASHLEY OTIENO

12 July 2023

• Hon Babu Owino shares his reasons for not supporting the war against chang'aa.

Embakasi East Member of Parliament Babu Owino is among lawmakers who can brag about having first-class honors in Actuarial science, a master's in law, 6 diplomas, and 4 degrees.

The politician was born and raised in Nyalenda slums and believes that whatever he went through in Nyalenda slums shaped him into the person he is today.

"I believe the things we go through in life, are meant to shape us and build us into who we are supposed to be that's the goal of hard moments in life."

Babu says that he can easily relate to someone who has struggled to pay school fees, lacked food at home, or even got arrested because he has gone through all this.

He gave an example of a time when he was arrested because he was selling Chang'aa.

"After my dad died while I was in class 3, so my mum resorted to selling Chang'aa so that she could take care of us that is what put me through school"

The MP says he gets so mad when he hears about the deputy president waging a war against Chang'aa sellers because it produces people who are leaders of tomorrow.

"Chang'aa goes through a lot of procedures before it is made, but the only way the government can fight its consumption and production is by giving jobs to these people"

To him, the appropriate way is by giving these people an option to rely on for their livelihood and not harassing them.

The family man says that the chang'aa sellers should also moderate how they sell to avoid overconsumption that causes harmful effects to the consumers.

He posed a question that there is really no difference between chang'aa and these other packaged liquors.

"It is all just a matter of which poison are you willing to take because even these expensive and packaged liquors are harmful in excessive consumption"