• Jumwa said to have stormed Katana’s homestead accusing ODM of campaigning long after the deadline had elapsed
• Inua Mama say Nairobi politicians have also made inciteful remarks over Kibra by-elections but none has been arrested
The vocal Inua Mama brigade has accused the Directorate of Criminal Investigation of arbitrarily arresting politicians allied to Deputy President William Ruto.
The team, which is composed of about 48 women leaders from the Senate and the National Assembly, accused the police of being used to settle political scores.
On Thursday, more than 10 MPs and senators from the team camped at Mombasa law courts to follow up on a case in which Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa is a suspect in the death of an ODM supporter in Malindi on Tuesday evening.
Jumwa and her bodyguard Geoffrey Okuto Otieno were arrested over the chaos in Ganda ward in Malindi where Gumbao Julo, 48, was shot dead.
Julo is an uncle of Reuben Katana, ODM's candidate in the Ganda by-election.
Jumwa is said to have stormed Katana’s homestead on Tuesday evening, accusing the ODM team of campaigning long after the deadline had elapsed.
The Malindi MP is the chief campaign manager for Abdul Omar, an independent candidate in the by-election.
The Ganda seat fell vacant after Omar’s election was nullified by a Malindi court.
Jumwa and her bodyguard have since been released on Sh1 million bond each with a surety of the same amount or Sh500,000 cash bail.
The Inua Mama brigade raised Sh500,000 for Jumwa’s immediate release.
However, Uasin Gishu Woman Representative Gladys Shollei asked why the police had not arrested the other MPs and politicians who were present during the chaos.
“Today is a very sad day in our country. We read a lot of malice in Jumwa’s arrest. How is it that the other MPs and politicians during the chaos have not been arrested?” Shollei asked.
Speaking after the MP's release from police cells, Shollei said it was wrong for the police to arrest Jumwa at midnight.
“The police had no business arresting a person at 1am. Jumwa is a senior citizen of this country, they should have summoned her to the station."
She said they will profile all the police officers that were sent to arrest Jumwa and present their case to the Independent Police Oversight Authority.
Inua Mama chair Alice Wahome (Kandara MP) said the DCI is targeting the MPs or senators associated with the Deputy President.
“These cases are very political and we want to warn the DCI of selective justice. We say no to political prosecutions,” she said.
She said some Nairobi MPs have made inciteful statements in the upcoming Kibra by-elections "but no action has been taken against them".
Jumwa said she will not be intimidated.
“I will not say much. No retreat, no surrender,” she said.
Others present in court were Woman Representatives Purity Ngirici (Kirinyaga) Faith Gitau (Nyandarua), Rahab Mukami (Nyeri) and Lydia Haika (Taita Taveta) among others.
Edited by R.Wamochie