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.
