This archive report was first published on 29 September 2019.
On September 25, 2019, High Court Judge Luka Kimaru made a landmark decision in the case of Dickson Mwangi Munene, a former police inspector who had been serving a life sentence at Kamiti Maximum Prison for the murder of James Ngang'a, son of former MP Patrick Muiruri.
According to the court records, Munene was in charge of the Capital Hill police post when he was found guilty of killing Ngang'a after an altercation at Crooked Q in Westlands on October 12, 2011. His friend, Alexander Chepkonga, was also found guilty but successfully appealed against the death sentence and was set free.
Justice Kimaru took into consideration the two years Munene had served in custody and the fact that he had applied himself gainfully by earning a Masters degree in business studies while in prison. Munene also received a certificate for being a model prisoner from the Commissioner-General of Prisons.
However, the judge also acknowledged that the life of the deceased could not be restored and that the pain suffered by the family of the deceased was an aggravating factor in sentencing. Munene had made an application for re-sentencing following the Supreme Court decision in 2017, directing that all murder and robbery with violence convicts' death sentences be reviewed.
Through his lawyer, Kioko Kilukumi, Munene told the court that he was the sole breadwinner of his family and that his incarceration had affected their living standards. He also regretted the events that led to the killing and had made efforts to reconcile with the family of the deceased, but these efforts had been futile.
