Aisha Jumwa, aide fail to take plea over report mix-up
Malindi legislator Aisha Jumwa and her co-accused Geoffrey Otieno, her aide, failed to take plea on Thursday morning over a missing medical report.
High Court Justice Njoki Mwangi was forced to briefly defer plea taking to allow the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) to avail the missing mental assessment report for Mr Otieno.
The judge had questioned the validity of Ms Jumwa's medical report, which the court noted bears a signature that's not that of a psychiatric known to be conducting the assessments in Mombasa.
However, the prosecutors explained that the medic who appends his signatures on the report has retired and that the procedure was done by his colleague who is currently in charge.
Prosecutors Jammy Yamina and Alloys Kemo had asked the court to proceed with plea taking pending the production of the report but the judge declined, directing that the report must be availed in court before the two are charged.
Defence lawyers Jared Magolo, Danstan Omari and Cliff Ombeta, however, read mischief and demanded that the document be produced.
The prosecutors were forced to rush back to their office to pick the document.
Ms Jumwa and her aide were brought to court in Mombasa at exactly 9am to plead to the charges but the mix-up delayed the process, forcing the duo to be locked up in a different courtroom as the judge dealt with other matters.
The two will be charged with the killing of Ms Jola Ngumbao, an ODM supporter who was shot dead in October last year during campaigns for the Ganda Ward by-election
They have been in custody at Port police station since Monday this week.
