Bizarre murder of trio a low moment for Kenya

This has been a low week for the Kenyan human rights community and the legal profession in general. On Thursday last week young Willie Kimani, a human rights lawyer employed by the International Justice Mission, left home, joined up with his client and sought to advance his client’s interests within the framework provided by the law.

He appeared in the Mavoko law courts, made his normal appearances and then headed home, looking forward to reconnecting with his young wife and child. Unfortunately for Willie, his client Josephat Mwenda and Joseph Muiruri, the ill-fated taxi driver who sought to drive them back to Nairobi, that trip ended fatally. The background to the matter is that Mwenda had been the victim of a shooting by a police officer. When he pursued the case against the officer, a series of acts of intimidation followed, including the filing of false charges most probably to try and “encourage” him to withdraw his complaint. He never withdrew and that is how Willie’s employer got roped into the matter and Willie ended up in Mavoko.