Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa has accused the state of introducing new evidence in a murder trial against her and her bodyguard Geoffrey Okuto.
Jumwa and Okuto have been charged over the murder of Ngumbao Jola on October 15, 2019, at his home in Ganda ward, Kilifi county.
She is accused of storming Jola’s house to disrupt a political meeting that was ongoing. This was just a day before the scheduled Ganda ward by-election on October 16, 2019.
The deceased was the uncle of current Ganda MCA Reuben Katana.
On Tuesday, Jumwa’s lawyer Danstan Omari said the state has been “sitting on evidence since 2019, only to ambush the defence counsel in court.”
Omari called for the adjournment of the case until they are furnished with copies of all new evidence.
The four-day trial, in which prosecution witnesses were supposed to give evidence and be cross-examined, was to end on Thursday.
On Tuesday, a police officer attached to Malindi police station and an ODM agent during the Ganda ward by-election took to the witness stand.
Corporal Sikuku Mayumbe presented reports of the crime scene, as well as ballistics and autopsy, which were supported by 182 digital images.
She used the crime scene and the autopsy reports to reconstruct the crime scene.
Mayumbe said she visited the crime scene the following day with a team of investigators.
She further said the body had already been moved to the Malindi hospital morgue when they got to the scene.
Mayumbe said she was present during the autopsy undertaken by government pathologist Johansen Oduor that revealed the deceased died from a bullet, which penetrated through the chest to his back.
The defence counsel said they were not aware of the crime scene reconstruction report.
“Your lordship, the state has been sitting on evidence since 2019 only to ambush us in court. The state also seems to be pushing a narrative that my client is frustrating the trial,” lawyer Omari said.
Kabwere Joseph Chengo, an ODM agent then, told the court that police confronted them at Jola’s homestead where more than 200 ODM agents were meeting.
He said police officers arrived at the homestead, but kept a distance as they monitored the events.
However, Jumwa arrived later in two Land Cruisers and a commotion ensued. It was then that her bodyguard withdrew his gun and shot twice at Jola.
He said the police lobbed tear-gas canisters, which only worsened the matter.
“The first shot missed, but the second one hit him,” Kabwere said.
He presented before court two statements, one recorded on October 20, 2019, and another recorded later on November 15 the same year.
The defence counsel accused him of altering his statement after he failed to indicate that he knew the deceased prior to the incident.
He, however, refused to recant the evidence, saying the November statement was just an addition to what he had said earlier.
Pushed to confirm whether the first accused (Okuto) actually aimed his gun at Jola, Kabwere was unable to explain that.
Justice Anne Ong’injo of the High Court in Mombasa adjourned the trial to September 26 to 29 this year.
(edited by Amol Awuor)
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