Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa and her bodyguard, Mr Geofrey Okuto, will spend Wednesday night in police cells as they wait for the court to determine a petition by the prosecution to detain them for 21 days to facilitate investigations into the murder of Gumbao Jola, an uncle of the ODM Ganda Ward aspirant , Mr Reuben Mwambize Katana.
Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Alloys Okemo said detectives are investigating the lawmaker over murder, incitement to violence and assault.
He added that they will also find out whether she breached the Electoral Code of Conduct.
Ms Jumwa, whom the DPP has described as confrontational and an inciter, is said to have stormed the Mr Katana’s home in a convoy with her aides, provoking the more than 500 people gathered in the compound.
They charged at the legislator’s team, pelting them with stones and other missiles.
“The bodyguard fired some shots and in the process, the crowd started shouting that Mr Jola had been killed. The crowd became more rowdy and violent, forcing the (police) officers to disperse them by firing in the air,” the prosecutor said.
An affidavit filed by Chief Inspector Joseph Wambua indicates that they had received information that the MP was up to no good.
“Security agencies in the region have credible intelligence that Jumwa’s agents at Takaungu are planning to disrupt the mini polls. She is an MP for Malindi and as such very influential and may interfere with the ongoing investigations by influencing the witnesses,” Mr Okemo said.
The DPP wanted the MP and her bodyguard locked up on the grounds that their security could not be guaranteed because of the large crowd that was seen baying for her blood outside the Malindi Police Station before she was moved to Mombasa.
“The lawmaker is confrontational and it is in the interest of her security that she be detained as the situation in Malindi is tense and volatile and her release may lead to a flare-up of violence,” Mr Okemo said.
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