A Nairobi court has acquitted Embakasi East Member of Parliament (MP) Babu Owino over hate speech charges levelled against him.
According to the ruling delivered on Thursday, November 25, Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Kenneth Cheruiyot stated that the prosecution failed to provide substantial evidence against the MP.
The prosecution team had sought for Owino to be put to task for words he uttered in 2017 against President Uhuru Kenyatta.
They termed the words as offensive and meant to bring hatred to the top office. The legislator denied three counts including subversion and incitement to violence as well as offensive conduct.
According to the charge sheet produced in court, Owino had uttered the words on September 24, 2017, at a rally in Kawangware. The prosecution stated that the words were meant to provoke an insurgence towards the President.
Owino also faced a second charge of incitement to violence and uttered words that were claimed to lead to disobedience to lawful authority.
The prosecution argued that the words were meant to bring hatred and contempt against a public officer.
The legislator has come under fire in the past over his controversial remarks in the course of his political career.
In August 2019, Babu claimed that there would be chaos in 2022 if ODM leader Raila Odinga failed to clinch the Presidency. Various politicians blasted the MP for the remarks and condemned him for his conduct.
"Babu Owino says publicly that we should change the constitution so that Raila Odinga can become President, failure to which there will be bloodshed in 2022. I am still waiting for Raila to contradict his ODM party MP."
"In the Rift Valley some communities are threatened with fire and brimstone if they do not vote in a certain way in 2022," Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria stated at the time his colleague made the remarks.
