Public Service and Gender Cabinet Secretary Aisha Jumwa will now be a state witness in the murder case where she had been charged alongside her bodyguard.
The new twist follows the approval of her request by the Director of Public Prosecutions- (DPP) Noordin Haji to have the charges against the CS dropped.
Haji on Wednesday, November 30, made an oral application seeking to withdraw the murder charge against Jumwa, a move that will see her become a key prosecution witness in the case.
However, the High Court in Mombasa ordered the case to be mentioned on December 21 for formal withdrawal of the case against the former Malindi Member of Parliament.
The DPP made an oral application seeking to withdraw the charges against Juma under section 87(a) of the Criminal Procedure Code(CPC), saying the CS will be a state witness against her bodyguard Geoffrey Okuto.
"This matter l have instructions by the DPP to make an application in respect to Juma to withdraw the matter under section 87(a)of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) and the charges against her be marked as withdrawn as she shall be treated as prosecution witnesses against her co-accused," the prosecutor told the court.
This comes after the CS, through her lawyer Danstan Omari, wrote to the DPP two weeks ago asking for a review of the file.
Omari said that the defence team re-evaluated the evidence availed to them by the prosecution in the matter and was of the view that it can't sustain the charge against Jumwa.
"Jumwa will be a state witness because she was present, she can tell the public what she saw as one of the people who were at the scene, " Omari stated.
The lawyer said that they have also supplied the office of the DPP with sufficient evidence that Juma does not own a gun and did not shoot anyone as alleged.
“It is in the line of duty of the DPP to apply for the withdrawal of a matter before the court, the ODPP has powers to discontinue criminal proceedings,” the lawyer said.
Jumwa and Okuto are accused of killing Ngumbao Jola, who was shot dead in 2019 in Kilifi County after chaos erupted during the Ganda Ward by-elections.
