Lamu Woman Rep Muthoni Marubu dumps UDA

By Newsflash Writer

Lamu Woman Representative Muthoni Marubu has quit the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA), accusing the party’s Deputy Leader and Lamu Governor Issa Timammy of political sabotage and ethnic exclusion.

Marubu, an ardent supporter of President William Ruto, announced her decision in a letter addressed to Timammy on Tuesday, August 11, 2026.

The lawmaker said she had decided to disengage from UDA after what she described as sustained attempts by the governor to undermine her political activities in Lamu, particularly efforts to mobilise support for the ruling party.

Marubu was elected as Lamu Woman Representative in 2022 on an independent ticket but said she committed herself to building UDA in the county after President Ruto asked her to mobilise support for the party.

She said she reached out to Timammy six times but the governor neither responded to nor returned her calls and did not organise a single grassroots mobilisation meeting.

“I went ahead and did the work—three months of mobilisation and 42 grassroots meetings across the county, registering members and building support for a party that had won no elective seat in Lamu County in 2022,” she said.

Timammy accused of sabotage

According to Marubu, UDA grassroots elections later proceeded despite attempts to have them stopped and her team emerged victorious.

She accused Timammy of subsequently using his position in the party to seek the reversal of the outcome because it did not favour his political interests.

Marubu further alleged that the push for fresh grassroots elections was selective, targeting only Lamu West, which she described as her political stronghold, while leaving Lamu East, where Timammy enjoys political support, untouched.

“This is deliberate political sabotage,” she said.

The legislator also raised concerns over what she described as questionable decisions by the Lamu County administration, including the composition of public appointments, the replacement of the late Deputy Governor and the deterioration of Mpeketoni Hospital.

She said the hospital predominantly serves the Kikuyu community and accused the administration of repeatedly attempting to evict farmers from their land.

Marubu also referred to the 2014 Mpeketoni killings, in which nearly 100 people, mostly Kikuyu, were killed. She noted that Timammy was arrested following the attacks amid allegations.

She argued that every Kenyan has a constitutional right to live and belong anywhere in the country, regardless of their ethnic background.

“I was born and raised in Lamu, and I buried my mother here. My ancestry traces to Murang’a, just as yours traces to Oman. Ancestry does not determine belonging. The Constitution does,” she said.

Ends political engagement with UDA

Marubu rejected allegations that her mobilisation activities mainly targeted the Kikuyu community, saying her team had traversed the county from Hindi to Witu, Kiunga and through the Boni Forest.

She said an audit would demonstrate that the mobilisation reached people from different communities.

The lawmaker further accused Timammy of seeking to exclude some residents from meaningful participation in Government, saying she would instead continue lobbying for equitable inclusion and access to Government services.

Marubu said her relationship with UDA had become “irreedeemably toxic” and declared that she, her team and political allies would no longer participate in the party’s mobilisation activities, grassroots elections or other party events.

“I was independently elected and had intended to join UDA ahead of 2027. That intention is hereby withdrawn,” she said.

Marubu said she intends to defend her seat in the 2027 General Election, while accusing Timammy, who is retiring from elective politics, of attempting to undermine her political future.

Her departure comes days after former Cabinet Secretary Aisha Jumwa also left UDA, citing frustrations with the President.