Aisha Jumwa Abandons Wiper Deputy Leader Offer to Rejoin Ruto’s UDA

Former Cabinet Secretary Aisha Jumwa returned to President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) on Thursday, November 12, 2026, ending a three-month stint with the opposition that threatens to disrupt Wiper’s plans at the Coast ahead of the 2027 General Election.

President Ruto welcomed the former Gender CS and Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) board chairperson back into the ruling party at State House, Mombasa. The reunion shifts the political equation in Kilifi County, where Jumwa is seeking to unseat incumbent Governor Gideon Mung’aro.

For Wiper Patriotic Front leader Kalonzo Musyoka, Jumwa’s sudden exit deals a blow to a months-long effort to build a strong opposition base in the Coast region. Kalonzo had courted Jumwa aggressively after she quit UDA, visiting her Kakuyuni residence in Malindi on August 14 alongside Nyali MP Mohamed Ali, Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua, and Wundanyi MP Danson Mwashako.

During that outreach, Kalonzo proposed Jumwa for the post of Wiper deputy party leader and endorsed her bid for the Kilifi governorship on a Wiper ticket. Jumwa had also joined Coast gubernatorial aspirants, including Ali and Mwashako, at a September 8 Wiper strategy meeting aimed at expanding the party's regional influence.

At the height of her alliance with Wiper, Jumwa backed the anti-Ruto one-term movement and vowed to strip UDA of its grassroots network in Kilifi.

"We are the ones who registered UDA members in Kilifi, and we are embarking on a grassroots campaign to deregister them from UDA and join Wiper," she said in August.

Now, Jumwa is back in the ruling coalition she walked out on just over three months ago. She had resigned from UDA during a July 30 press conference at her Malindi home, accusing party leaders of frustrating her political ambitions and sidelining her in Kilifi coalition arrangements.

She also allegedPresident William Ruto receives Former Gender CS Aisha Jumwa  humiliation within the ruling party, claiming she was once chased out of State House during a meeting between Ruto and Coast leaders.

"My loyalty to the people of Kilifi will always be greater than my loyalty to any political party. The voice of the people of Kilifi is louder than the voice of UDA," Jumwa had declared at the time.

Welcoming her back on Thursday, Ruto framed the reunion as part of his push to unite leaders and consolidate support in a region that has historically leaned toward the opposition.

"I look forward to working with her to advance the party’s transformation agenda at the Coast and across the country. We remain committed to uniting leaders and Kenyans around our shared vision of a united, inclusive and prosperous Kenya," the President said.

Ruto received Jumwa while in Mombasa for the four-day Kenya Comprehensive School Heads Association (KECSHA) national annual general meeting and conference at the Sheikh Zayed Children Welfare Centre in Bombolulu, which brought together more than 15,000 school heads.

Jumwa, a founding member of UDA and one of Ruto's top Coast mobilizers in 2022, has shifted allegiances multiple times during her career. She previously served as Kilifi’s first Woman Representative from 2013 to 2017 and later as Malindi MP under the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) before joining Ruto's camp and serving in his Cabinet.