Aisha Jumwa’s controversial life haunts her gubernatorial bid

Aisha Jumwa is one of the most vocal leaders from the Coast and she is known to be a great defender of the poor rights of coastal people.

She has served as the Kilifi Woman Representative and Malindi MP respectively between 2013 to 2017 and 2017 to 2022. However, her bid for the Kilifi governor seat seems to have resurrected her past deeds that could dent her chances of winning the seat.

Her troubles can be traced back to her marriage life and the controversy that has characterized her career since the 2017 elections.

It is no wonder that a recent survey by a local publication saw her voted the queen of controversy for the year 2020. She was polled among other controversial female politicians among them Millie Odhiambo, Gladys Shollei and Anab Subow.

The Malindi MP found herself in hot soup over constant appearances in the corridors of justice, most critical of them a murder charge.

In October, she was accused alongside her bodyguard, Geoffrey Otieno, for killing Michael Ngumbao Jola, the uncle of Ganda MCA Reuben Katana Mwarume.

Michael was shot dead during a fracas between the lawmaker and officials from the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).

The court case also learned that the lawmaker had been in a romantic relationship with her co-accused for six years.

The controversy within the controversy was that her bodyguard-turned-lover is not only a married father of two but his wife is also fully aware of their affair.

But her troubles started in May 2020 when she was recalled as the NASA representative to the Parliamentary Service Commission and replaced by Mishi Mboko, the member of parliament for Likoni.

Almost at the same time, Aisha was also in the center of a corruption scandal where she was accused of using her proxies to embezzle Constituency Development Fund (CDF) money.

The MP allegedly awarded a tender worth 19 million shillings to a company to construct the Malindi sub-county education office, out of which she was paid KSh 2.5 million as kickback.

Her accomplices presented themselves to the police but Aisha would go missing, prompting the police to launch a manhunt for her.

As the year drew to a close, she would be a guest of the state again, this time at the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) alongside ODM party official Edwin Sifuna over vulgar insults the two traded during the Msambweni by-election.

The mourners booed the MP over her reaction but she remained resolute. “Stop bringing politics SG, we have come here for one reason, to mourn and condole with the family of the late,” an angry Aisha yelled.

Political analyst Tony Wandera opines that Jumwa’s antics are not good for someone seeking to be governor of a county like Kilifi. “She is not ripe and her recent past tells it all that it will be a mistake if Kilifi people entrust her with the county leadership,” he said.

On the corruption side, Jumwa was accused of conspiracy to commit fraud through payment of Sh19 million to Multiserve contractors in respect to tender number MLD/NG-CDF/01/2017/2018 of Malindi NG-CDF.

The MP’s co-accused were Wachu Omar, Kennedy Otieno, Bernard Riba, Sophia Saidi, Margaret Kalume, Robert Katana and Multiserve contractors. The offence is alleged to have been committed between May 14 and October 12, 2018 in Malindi sub-county, Kilifi County.

Ms Jumwa was also charged with conflict of interest, acquisition of proceeds of crime and money laundering A Mombasa court also heard that between May 25 and May 29, 2018 at Malindi NG-CDF offices, Mr Otieno, Mr Riba, Ms Saidi and Ms Kalume, as tender evaluation committee members in tender number MLD/NG-CDF/01/2017/2018, failed to comply with procurement laws.

Mr Omar, a fund account manager at Malindi NG-CDF offices, was also charged with two counts of failing to comply with procurement laws. Mr Katana was charged with three counts of forgery and uttering a forged document and fraudulent acquisition of public property. Ms Jumwa has also neglected friends when it matters more just to protect her won interest for political gain.

A case in point is when she turned against her bodyguard in the case in which the two are accused of killing a supporter of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party.

A report by Daily Nation indicated that the lawmaker instructed her four lawyers not to represent the bodyguard identified as Geoffrey Otieno Okuto.

The two were being represented by the same set of lawyers in the case stemming from an October 2019 shooting after chaos erupted during campaigns in Ganda Ward, Kilifi County.

The four lawyers are Jared Magolo, Cliff Ombeta, Danstan Omari and Shadrack Wamboi. The lawyers, according to the publication, informed the court that they received firm instructions from Jumwa who wanted the surety bond posted for the bodyguard withdrawn.

“Mr Okuto was served with the application seeking to withdraw the surety, and he is aware (of it),” Omari told the court. In his defense, the bodyguard pleaded with the court to accord him enough time to regroup following the change of events.

“Since Jumwa has instructed the lawyers not to represent me, I ask the court to give me more time to look for an advocate. I request for the court’s indulgence,” he stated.

After considering his request, the court adjourned the case. In October 2020, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) approved the murder charges against the duo.

A close look at her family life shows that she is the second born in a family of five. She is a single mother of three children, namely; Karisa, Selina, and Ruth.

She is also a caring grandmother to the young Morgan. She has been married twice. Most recently, she had been married to her fellow politician Karisa Nzai Munyika whom they met in the 2000s.

The duo met while they were both politicians (councilors) by then. Munyika was the councilor of Mombasa municipal council, while Jumwa was the councilor representative of Takaungu in Kilifi.

The couple separated in the year 2014 shortly after Jumwa had been elected as the woman representative for Kilifi County in the 2013 general election, and Munyika elected as the MCA representative of the Jomvu ward in Mombasa.

The couple had been together for about nine years, and they had been blessed with a daughter. Jumwa had two other children from her first marriage in which the name of her first husband is not mentioned.

It is speculated that their relationship collapsed when Jumwa was elected the woman representative for the whole Kilifi county while Karisa Nzai was elected as the Jomvu ward Mca.

In the case of her first marriage, Jumwa had returned back the dowry to her in laws via the area sub-chief after her then-husband said so if she was not going to keep off politics.