This archive report was first published on 19 July 2019.
On July 19, 2019, the High Court in Nanyuki made a landmark ruling that freed a man who had been sentenced to four years in prison for stabbing and grievously injuring his wife's lover.
The man, Michael Kimondo, had been convicted of grievous harm by Nanyuki chief magistrate Lucy Mutai on May 24, 2018, after he stabbed his wife's lover, David Kamau Njuguna, on September 17, 2014, in Nanrumoru township, Nyeri.
Justice Hatari Waweru allowed Kimondo's appeal, stating that only a 'very foolish man' would enter another man's house and bed with that other man's wife.
Such a man, Justice Waweru said, would be deserving of whatever might come to him, including grievous harm or even death.
However, the judge emphasized that people must always control themselves and not take the law into their own hands, as this would lead to a 'jungle' and a 'brutish and short' life, as some philosopher once said.
Justice Waweru agreed with Kimondo's lawyer, Mr. Wahome Gikonyo, that the four-year imprisonment was harsh and excessive, considering the circumstances in which the offence was committed.
The judge added that in punishing law offenders, the court must always bear in mind the grave provocation that few men can withstand and hold peace.
