Ms Aisha Jumwa.
Geoffrey Otieno Okuto, the man charged with the murder of an Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) supporter during the Ganda Ward by-election in Malindi in 2019, has been acquitted.
His acquittal on Wednesday at the Mombasa High Court brings to a close one of the most high-profile cases linking a politician with murder, since he had initially been charged alongside Ms Aisha Jumwa, the former Malindi MP, and later Public Service Cabinet Secretary.
Ms Jumwa, an influential figure in the Coast political landscape, was later discharged from the case soon after President William Ruto nominated her as Gender Cabinet Secretary after she lost at the 2022 Kilifi County gubernatorial election.
The prosecution then informed the court that, upon reviewing the evidence, Ms Jumwa was found not to have been implicated in the murder of Mr Jola Ngumbao. This left Mr Okuto, her former aide, to fight the charges alone.
Aisha Jumwa (right) and former aide Geoffrey Okuto Otieno in a Mombasa court on October 17, 2019.
Court's reasoning
On Wednesday, the High Court freed the suspect after analysing the testimonies of 12 witnesses.
Items that were analysed included a forensic report on the firearm suspected to have been used in the shooting of the late Jola Ngumbao.
The court concluded that no evidence linked Mr Okuto to the fatal bullet.
"The prosecution has failed to prove the murder case against the accused beyond a reasonable doubt. The suspect is hereby acquitted of the offence of murder," ruled Justice Wendy Micheni.
Evidence shortcomings
The judge said the evidence was not strong enough to link Mr Okuto to Mr Ngumbao’s death, so the court gave him the benefit of the doubt.
Justice Micheni observed that only one of the 12 witnesses testified to having seen Mr Okuto fire a shot at the home of the deceased’s uncle, Mr Reuben Katana, where ODM was training officials for the mini-polls.
However, the judge dismissed the testimony as unreliable due to inconsistencies.
In one instance, the witness claimed Mr Okuto fired twice, while in another, he said he fired three times.
Additionally, the court found that the forensic report on the firearm and spent cartridges recovered from the scene and from Mr Okuto did not support the prosecution’s case.
“This report was not able to confirm the firearm that discharged the bullet that ended the life of the deceased,” said the judge.
Several witnesses, including police officers, told the court that the chaos and subsequent shooting were triggered by Ms Jumwa’s intrusion into the ODM training and sensitisation meeting.
Witnesses claimed that Ms Jumwa assaulted individuals present at the meeting table, leading to panic and disorder.
They told the court that both Ms Jumwa and Mr Okuto were present when chaos erupted after they stormed the meeting with their supporters.
Court records show that when Ms Jumwa was discharged from the case, she had expressed willingness to record a statement and testify.
However, this did not happen, as the prosecution closed its case without calling her as a witness.
The court heard that the murder occurred on October 15, 2019, in Ganda Ward, Kilifi County.
Mr Geoffrey Otieno Okuto, the former bodyguard of Gender and Public Service Cabinet Secretary Aisha Jumwa.
In his defence, Mr Okuto narrated how he tried to dissuade Ms Jumwa from disrupting the party’s strategy meeting, but his pleas went unheeded.
"She ultimately got her way. We drove to Ganda in a convoy of four to five vehicles. I was the driver of our vehicle, and since I was unfamiliar with the area, she gave me directions. She was the MP for Malindi, and we were part of her campaign team," he said.
He admitted to firing into the air in an attempt to rescue his boss, who had walked straight into an angry crowd. He said he feared for her safety.
"As I tried to rescue her, gunshots suddenly rang out. Police officers at the scene also fired into the air to disperse the unruly youth," he testified while being guided by his advocate Jared Magolo.
Mr Okuto stated that he was armed with a Ceska pistol loaded with approximately 14 bullets, most of them hollow points.
He maintained that he fired into the air and did not shoot the deceased.
"There is no way the police would have failed to recover the bullet head from the body if I had fired it," he said during cross-examination by State Counsel Ngiri Wangui.
He added that ballistic expert reports concluded that the fatal shot had been fired by someone who was either kneeling or lying down.
"I was standing upright when I fired into the air. I deny the offence. I did not know the deceased and cannot say where he was in relation to where I discharged my weapon," he said, adding that he had legally acquired his firearm in 2015.
However, the court also heard that the suspect, while in the company of Ms Jumwa, stormed Mr Katana’s homestead where ODM agents were meeting, and that shooting ensued.
An autopsy revealed that the deceased had suffered perforations to the heart, liver, and lungs, with the right lung bruised.
