Malindi Member of Parliament Aisha Jumwa has been charged afresh after the prosecution amended the charges in forgery, fraud in procurement and money laundering.
The amended charges read that Jumwa and six others conspired to defraud the Malindi National Government-Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) of Sh20 million.
Her lawyers Danstan Omari, Jared Magolo, Shadrack Wamboi and Titus Kirui applied for adjournment of the case to get instruction from their clients saying the prosecution had ambushed them.
“This is a trial by ambush. We urge the matter be adjourned,” said Omari.
However, the court dismissed a plea to have the matter adjourned to another date insisting on hearing the case on Tuesday without considering their submissions prompting Jumwa’s lawyers to withdraw their services.
“Since we cannot take any instructions from our clients as it is, we seek to withdraw our legal representation and have them look for new counsel,” said Omari.
The lawyers had also asked the court to have the matter heard by another magistrate since the Trail Magistrate Edna Nyaloti has been transferred to a new station.
Jumwa sought a week to source for a new team of lawyers to represent her in the case.
The magistrate asked the MP to consult with her lawyers and convince them to come back because it would be unfair to waste a whole week.
“The prosecution has lined up 10 witnesses. Let us not waste public resources,” said Nyaloti.
Jumwa alongside Wachu Omar Abdalla, Kennedy Otieno Onyango, Benard Riba Kai, Sophia Saidi Charo, Margaret Faith Kalume, Robert Katana Wanje and Multserve Contractors Limited were in 2019 charged with stealing Sh20 million from the NG-CDF.