Details of Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa’s attempts to scuttle Team Embrace weekend rallies in coastal region have emerged. Jumwa who defected from Raila Odinga’s ODM camp to Deputy President William Ruto’s camp is said to have been running a campaign to reduce the opposition party’s stranglehold of the region’s politics.
Team Embrace, a group of women leaders drumming support for President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga’s handshake has been holding rallies across the country calling for peace and advocating support for Building Bridges Initiative.
But according to Ms Jumwa, Team Embrace is a fallacy and accused coastal women leaders of “betraying those who elected them in order to please outsiders”.
The Malindi MP told politicians from other parts of the country that Kilifi “has its owners”.
Team Embrace was in Kilifi and Mombasa counties during the weekend, drumming up support for the handshake.
It however emerged that Jumwa had paid a group of women from the region to heckle Team Embrace during their rally in Kilifi.
“It is wrong for Jumwa to give women money to come and heckle us during our meetings,” Homa Bay Woman Representative Gladys Wanga, who is the head of the group said.
Her Murang’a counterpart Sabina Chege accused Ms Jumwa of promoting violence at Inua Mama team meetings. Inua Mama team is another group of women leaders drumming support for DP Ruto.
It is said that Ms Jumwa paid the women hecklers then left for Nairobi to act innocent.
“Why would you fan fire against your colleagues and then leave for Nairobi pretending to be innocent?” the Murang’a Woman Representative posed.