Babu Owino might look like the problem inside Linda Mwananchi, but he is actually a necessary contradiction.
A lot of the attacks I am seeing, especially from Western, miss the bigger picture.
One of the reasons Linda Mwananchi has national support is precisely because of Babu.
In fact, he is the one running both the grassroots and online army that no other member in that team can mobilize.
If Babu were to withdraw today, the structural weakness around Edwin Sifuna would be badly exposed.
He would be left with Khalwale, Natembeya, Wamboka and Wamunyinyi, tired faces with limited national appeal beyond Kanduyi and Ikolomani.
Even Orengo is not entirely a liability. Though he has no solid base of his own, he offers credibility, similar to the legitimacy Mudavadi lent to Ruto in 2022.
So the real threat to Linda Mwananchi is not even Babu Owino as Sifuna's supporters want to project.
The bigger threat to Linda Mwananchi are Sifuna's supporters who are attacking Babu thinking they are helping Sifuna, when in reality they are destroying the coalition's national appeal.