End of the road for Aisha Jumwa's political career?

Embattled Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa’s political future is on a razor edge after the Director of Public Prosecutions approved murder charges against her over the fatal shooting of a man last year. 

The legislator and her long-time aide, Mr Geoffrey Okuto Otieno, are accused of killing Gumbao Jola, an uncle of ODM Ganda ward representative Reuben Katana, during by-election campaigns.

“Mombasa Regional Head Alloys Kemo has approved murder and assault charges against Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa and Geoffrey Okuto Otieno over the fatal shooting of a man and injury of several people during October, 2019 Ganda by-election,” the ODPP posted on its official Twitter handle.

The murder charges come just months after she was freed on a Sh5 million bond over six counts of money laundering, acquiring proceeds of crime, conflict of interest and fraud. The state has accused her of conspiring to defraud the Malindi National Government Constituency Development Fund of Sh19 million.

The outspoken legislator has linked her woes to her association with Deputy President William Ruto as she navigates from one landmine to another. And with ODM turning the screws on her position in the lucrative Parliamentary Service Commission, Ms Jumwa’s political future is anyone’s guess.

Remove from PSC

In July, Minority Whip in the National Assembly, Junet Mohamed, who is also the Suna East MP, said the party would restart the process of having the rebellious lawmaker removed from the PSC.

“It is clear that Jumwa is not in line with the policies and aspirations of the party that nominated her to the PSC,” Mr Junet said. Section 14 of the Political Parties Act provides that a member of a political party is deemed to have defected if that member advances the interests of a rival party other than the one that sponsored him or her.

“Now that the Parliamentary Service Bill has outlined how to deal with her, we shall follow the due process,” the minority whip said. The Bill outlines the procedure of removing a member of the PSC or an elected MP who goes against a party position.

Since she joined Dr Ruto’s campaign, Ms Jumwa has been vocal against the Building Bridges Initiative championed by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and President Uhuru Kenyatta.

She has been one of the key personalities and a proponent of Mr Ruto’s 2022 bid as depicted in the many succession political rallies held across the country in open defiance of President Kenyatta on the need to slow down the electioneering mood in the country.

While addressing her supporters in Mombasa a couple of months ago, Ms Jumwa said there were forces out to ensure she was arraigned for murder: “I know all this is being done to fight me because of my political stand, in two weeks’ time they will bring me here again to charge me with murder, but I want to tell them I will not be cowed by their attempts to bring me down.”

For the past 11 months, detectives have been piecing together evidence to support the charges of murder, incitement to violence and assault.

Police said they were also conducting investigations to establish whether the lawmaker had breached the Electoral Code of Conduct.