Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa is being detained at the Kilindini Police Station in Mombasa following her arrest on Tuesday night after an Orange Democratic Movement supporter was shot dead.
The chaos which led to the fatal shooting of the ODM supporter broke out after the legislator stormed a meeting organized by the party officials at the home of its candidate for Thursday’s Ganda Ward by-election.
Jumwa was arrested at her home in Kakuyuni and taken to the Malindi Police Station before being moved to Mombasa.
Reports indicated that violence erupted moments after Jumwa stormed the meeting at Pendukiani village in Ganda at about 5pm demanding that the meeting be stopped because election campaigns officially ended on Monday.
It is alleged that Jumwa and her supporters confronted the ODM leaders who were at the time meeting with over 300 supporters under tents.
Those present included Mombasa Deputy Govenor William Kingi, Magarini MP Michael Kingi, Kilifi North MP Owen Baya, former Malindi MP Willy Mtengo and several ODM officials from Nairobi and Mombasa.
During the fracas, Ngumbao Jola was reportedly shot on the chest and was pronounced dead on arrival at the Malindi Sub County Hospital.
Tension is high in Malindi and the entire Ganda ward following the death as ODM leaders claim Jumwa is responsible for the shooting.
They claimed the meeting was meant to recruit agents and not a rally as alleged by Jumwa.
Vincent Safari Katana, a relative of the deceased, was at the meeting and said everything was well until Jumwa arrived with her supporters.
He said the incident occurred at about 5 pm when they were planning how agents would be deployed to different polling stations.
”I saw Aisha Jumwa and goons, they started chaos and disrupted the meeting. At that time, there were about eight police officers who were trying to keep peace,” he said.
He said Jumwa was hostile and wanted to fight other people, including women leaders who were present.
Hamisi Musa, another ODM supporter who was at the meeting, said they were not in a rally and no MP or leader present addressed political matters.
He wondered why the MP had stormed the meeting, leading to the death of one of their own.
The deceased is said to be a relative of Katana.
At the Malindi Police station, ODM leaders who had camped there to record statements, accusing the police of failing to act against the MP.
Magarini MP, who was leading the delegation, said Jumwa should be held responsible for the death.
Kingi said he was also assaulted while defending two supporters who were being sought by Jumwa supporters.
However, in a quick rejoinder, Jumwa dismissed claims that she shot the ODM supporter during the fracas.
Jumwa said she spent the better part of Tuesday in Watamu and while taking lunch at Crab Shack Restaurant, her supporters who were in the meeting, sent pictures informing her of the ongoing rally.
The MP, who spoke at her home, said she called the OCPD Malindi to inform him about the meeting but they took no action.
”By evening when the police failed to act, I called the OCPD again and told him I would take action because campaign period is over and that’s why I stormed the meeting,” she said.
During the chaos, Jumwa said police officers asked her to leave as they would handle the situation and by the time she left no one had been shot.
She asked investigating agencies to conduct investigations to establish who pulled the trigger.
