The 5-year pursuit of Justice for slain lawyer Willie Kimani, client and driver

By IJM-Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 23- Today we mark five years since the murder of our colleague Willie Kimani, our client Josephat Mwenda and trusted driver Joseph Muiruri.

Even as we commemorate this day, we are alive to the fact that the case is taking an inordinately long time in court and delaying justice for our brothers.

This is not the only case taking long in the justice system.

Today we are encouraged that the new Chief Justice in Kenya Martha Koome has pledged to reduce the time cases take in court to a maximum of three years.

This will ensure speedy resolution of cases and justice for both the victims and the suspects.

From our casework experience, murder trials especially those involving police officers take an average of five years to conclude in court, we call upon the justice actors in the Judiciary, ODPP, DCI, LSK and IPOA to work closely to resolve such cases in a short time.

We welcome the new initiative by justice actors led by the DPP in the recently launched Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on Investigation and Prosecution of Serious Human Rights Violations Committed by Police Officers.

Delayed Justice leads to psychological distress to the families of victims as they struggle with the healing process.

The long cases put their lives on hold since it’s difficult to find closure while the case is still in court. Delayed justice is a double tragedy for these families.