Former Cabinet Secretary Aisha Jumwa has resigned from President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA), citing humiliation and mounting frustration over her ambitions to run for the Kilifi gubernatorial seat in 2027.
Addressing journalists at a press briefing at her Kakuyuni home in Malindi on Thursday, Jumwa, who previously served as Cabinet Secretary for Gender, Culture, the Arts and Heritage, said her decision followed extensive soul-searching.
“After deep reflection, heartfelt prayer and countless consultations with the people I serve, I have made one of the most difficult decisions of my political life,” she said, before declaring her exit effective immediately: “From today, Aisha Jumwa Katana is no longer a member of the United Democratic Alliance.”
Jumwa said her repeated attempts to have her concerns addressed by President Ruto had gone nowhere, describing a pattern of being sidelined despite her loyalty to him. She recounted being turned away from a State House meeting between the President and Coast leaders, an episode she pointed to directly when addressing Ruto.
“And perhaps you are not aware, but I was thrown out of State House when Coast leaders had come to see you. I sent you a message, and you never responded to me. I have been humiliated. Even when you come to Kilifi, it is as if you no longer recognise me,” she said.
She noted that she was among UDA’s founding members yet now held no role whatsoever in government — “not even that of a sweeper,” she said — despite the President expecting her to campaign for his re-election in exchange for a promised Cabinet position.
Fighting back tears, she said she had stood by Ruto through difficult moments in his political career only to feel discarded in return, and appealed to him not to harm her as she embarks on her next political move.
Jumwa said part of what drove her departure was pressure from leaders within the broad-based coalition, who she claimed were unwilling to field a UDA candidate for the Kilifi governorship. She called on the President to grant her and the people of Kilifi their democratic rights, insisting that residents should be free to choose their own leaders at the ballot.
She urged Kilifi residents to remain calm, maintaining that she still intends to contest the governor’s seat in 2027, and said her next political move would be guided by what the people of Kilifi want. She did not name the party she plans to join next, saying only that an announcement would follow soon.
Jumwa’s departure adds to what has increasingly been described as a mass exodus of senior figures from UDA in recent months.
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