Aisha Jumwa becomes state witness as court drops murder charges against her

The High Court has dropped the murder charges levelled against Gender and Public Service CS Aisha Juma.

Mombasa High Court Judge Anne Ong'injo on Wednesday discharged Jumwa from the criminal proceedings.

"In consideration of the oral application made by the ODPP in November, followed by a letter from Coast region coordinator Hassan Abdi, Jumwa is hereby discharged from the proceedings," Ong'injo ruled.

Jumwa’s defence argued she should be a state witness since the evidence presented against her could not sustain a murder charge.

Her lawyer, Danstan Omari, said the CS was remorseful that someone died at a rally in an area under her jurisdiction.

Omari further said there was a malicious plot to implicate his client in a murder she never planned for, of someone she knew not.

"We provided that the charge she is facing was a charge of murder. There must be malice, we provided evidence that she never knew the deceased," Omari said.

"She never planned to murder and she never had any premeditated concept of murder. She was there for a political rally that was being held by ODM. So, there was no malice."

Jumwa was charged alongside her bodyguard Geoffrey Okuto with the killing of Ngumbao Jola in 2019.

Her defence had asked the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji to drop the charges against her and according to Omari, his client did not own any gun, nor did she pull the trigger.

Omari also argued the evidence presented against his client by the prosecution witnesses absolved Jumwa from the shooting.

Jumwa had earlier written to Haji requesting to be a state witness in her own murders case and the DPP applied to withdraw the murder case against Jumwa saying she will be a state witness.

With the fresh development, Jumwa will now be a state witness in Ngumbao’s murder case against Okuto.