Babu Owino unveils The Mwananchi Party for 2027 Nairobi governor bid amid Linda Mwananchi tensions

Embakasi East MP Babu Owino has finally put a name to the political outfit he intends to ride on into the 2027 General Election.

Speaking on Friday, September 18, the outspoken lawmaker confirmed that The Mwananchi Party will serve as his political home for next year's polls, including his anticipated run for the Nairobi governor's seat.

He made the disclosure while attending the burial of Teacher Jeremiah Kisero in Central Nyakach, Kisumu County.

The deceased was a brother to Babu's close friend, Kisero Jr., who currently serves as president of Kenya Methodist University.

Addressing mourners at the event, Babu was quick to shut down any suggestion that his political bond with Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna had weakened, even as tension simmers within the Linda Mwananchi movement over which party its leaders should officially adopt.

According to Babu, the arrangement is straightforward. Sifuna, he said, will front the Ukombozi People's Party, while he takes charge of The Mwananchi Party.

The plan, as he laid it out, is for the two parties to eventually merge forces through a coalition.

"Sifuna will be party leader of Ukombozi People's Party. Babu, party leader as well, of The Mwananchi Party. Do you agree or not?" he told the gathering.

He went further, pledging his continued backing for Sifuna's presidential run, and insisting that campaign efforts would proceed under the wider Linda Mwananchi banner regardless of the internal party disagreements.

"We will support Sifuna as the presidential candidate for Linda Mwananchi. We will form a coalition within Linda Mwananchi, then form another with the broader United Opposition," he said.

Behind the scenes, Babu is understood to have taken over the Muungano Party, previously registered under former Kitui Governor Kivutha Kibwana, and rebranded it into what is now known as The Mwananchi Party, positioning it as his vehicle for next year's elections.

This is not the first time the Embakasi East legislator has addressed the matter. Just days earlier, he had revealed that he already controlled a registered party, one he claims to have secured long before Linda Mwananchi was even formed as a movement.

That revelation has only added fuel to an already tense standoff. While Babu continues to champion The Mwananchi Party, Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya has thrown his weight behind the Ukombozi People's Party as the preferred vehicle for Sifuna's presidential bid.

The competing positions have raised fresh doubts about who truly controls the direction of Linda Mwananchi as the coalition edges closer to the 2027 campaign season.

Not everyone within the movement views the disagreement as a crisis, however. Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi has played down talk of a looming split, framing the friction as nothing more than the normal growing pains of a young political movement.

He went further, accusing state operatives of actively working to sow division within the opposition.