Celebrity stylist Brian Babu has shed light on the payment he received for his involvement in the latest Team Kenya Olympics kit project.
Sharing on his X account on July 8, 2024, Babu said that he had been swamped with calls following the online discussions surrounding the Olympic kits.
According to Babu, he accepted a consultancy offer to assist the ministry in managing the submissions for the project and only got paid Ksh30,000.
“Since it is a common question, the only remuneration I received was a total of KES. 30k. Not per session…total,” Babu remarked.
Since it is a common question, the only remuneration I received was a total of KES. 30k. Not per session. Total.
— brian babu (@brianbabuKe) July 8, 2024
Brian Babu on involvement
Further Babu revealed that even though he was part of the panel, his major role was mainly to brainstorm and narrow down the options.
“OK, guys. I have read, heard, and received so many calls and texts about the conversation going on online. Here is what happened. Earlier in the year I accepted a consultancy offer to take part in helping the Ministry of Sports in sorting out submissions,” Babu revealed.
“From here henceforth we did not hear back from the Ministry, despite numerous calls to follow up on the process…until much later when they had already awarded the winning designer. Please note we weren’t a part of this decision. And really, not part of our purview.”
To be clear. pic.twitter.com/KB3hptuO6N
— brian babu (@brianbabuKe) July 8, 2024
According to Babu, thorough deliberations were done and the panel narrowed down the options to 20, which were then presented to a broader group of stakeholders and athletes. Later, 10 designs were selected from this pool.
“Over a few weeks, we deliberated as a panel and settled on 20 options which we then forwarded to the Ministry. These options were then presented to a wider pool of stakeholders including media and athletes and out of these 10 options were settled upon,” Babu added.
Babu revealed that despite their efforts to follow up, the Ministry of Sports did not maintain contact with them until much later when the winning designer was already chosen.
He clarified that he was not responsible for designing or styling the final production but was involved in the initial shortlisting process.
Addressing the controversial designs that sparked online debate, Babu mentioned that they were not adequately sampled.
Further, Babu took accountability for his role and acknowledged learning valuable lessons from the experience regarding certain projects.
“The final outlooks that are causing so much furore (legitimately so) are also in part a problem with production, which word in the streets have it was handled in just three days; not even sampling was done,” Babu noted.
“Anyway, I will take responsibility to the extent of my involvement in all this, and I have learned lessons when it comes to certain jobs. You do not have to accept every opportunity that comes your way.”