Jumwa overstepped her boundaries, Kingi family says

Mombasa Deputy Governor William Kingi's family has spoken for the first time about the public altercation between Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa and ODM secretary-general Edwin Sifuna during a burial in Jilore, Malindi, last Friday.

On Wednesday, Dr Kingi denied that Ms Jumwa was the master of ceremonies and apologised to mourners who might have been offended by the incident.

A section of the media had reported that the Malindi lawmaker was the emcee during the ceremony. “As a family, this is our position on the alleged reports by a section of the media that Ms Jumwa was the emcee during the burial. We wish to categorically state that she was not," said the statement.

The family said the master of ceremonies was Mr Kazungu John, a former Kilifi County protocol officer.

“While the family respects Ms Jumwa for her role as an MP, she was only allowed to invite her fellow members of Parliament. She hijacked the programme and went on to invite other leaders, including Mr Sifuna. Ms Jumwa's decision to interrupt Mr Sifuna's speech was unfortunate," Dr Kingi said in the statement.

NO POLITICS

Both Mr Sifuna and Ms Jumwa were attending the burial of Mzee Edward Kingi, the deputy governor’s father.

A standoff ensued after Ms Jumwa stopped Mr Sifuna from addressing mourners after the latter started speaking about ODM politics.

An agitated Ms Jumwa went to the podium and snatched the microphone from Mr Sifuna, telling him to respect the Mijikenda community.

“No, Mr Sifuna, we cannot take that. Please respect the Mijikenda community. We have given you the chance and thank you. Go and look for a political podium to talk about ODM politics. We are here to bury Mzee Kingi,” said Ms Jumwa.

RAILA MESSAGE

After forcing Mr Sifuna off the podium, Ms Jumwa went ahead to invite Ganze MP Teddy Mwambire.

But Dr Kingi said he was forced to call back Mr Sifuna to deliver his condolences from ODM party leader Raila Odinga.

During the burial, Mr Sifuna had started his speech by stressing on the need for the Orange party to be respected. It is then that the Malindi MP got angry.

Ms Jumwa was to repeat the sentiments the following day during the burial of Kilifi Woman Representative Gertrude Mbeyu’s father at Kibarani.