Court stops circulation of Jumwa vulgar audio

Kenya Roads Board chairperson Aisha Jumwa. [File, Standard]

A court in Malindi has barred the circulation of a video and audio clip in which Kenya Roads Board (KRB) chairperson Aisha Jumwa is allegedly heard insulting a Malindi resident.

Principal Magistrate Joy Shiundu Wesonga restrained Renson Kombe Yeri, Iss Salim, and Matano Maingi from distributing the recordings until the case is heard and determined.

In the clip, said to have been recorded in 2016 but recently resurfaced online, Ms Jumwa is heard using vulgar language directed at Yeri during a phone call. She alleges the recording is being circulated by Yeri, Salim, and Maingi.

Jumwa has sued Yeri for defamation. Notably, she has not denied the contents of the clip, but in her affidavit claims she was provoked. She maintains that Yeri first insulted her and that she merely retaliated.

"That is when Yeri was using obscene and abusive words towards the plaintiff, to which she retaliated in kind, unaware that Yeri was recording the call to use it against her," reads her application filed by lawyer Alfred Omwancha.

The KRB chair further alleges that Yeri edited the recording to omit his words, leaving only her responses, thereby portraying her as the sole abuser.

"It has become notorious, unbearable, and uncontrollable that the respondents are maliciously playing, circulating, and sharing the said videos whenever they learn I am preparing to hold meet-the-people public meetings," she says.

She adds that Salim and Maingi are circulating the clip to depict her as ill-mannered and unfit to contest the Kilifi governorship in the 2027 General Election.

Her counsel certified the application as urgent and urged the court to stop further circulation of the recording until the matter is concluded.

The case will be mentioned on 19 September.