The High Court is expected to issue directions in a case in which murder convict Jowie Irungu petitioned the court seeking to have the death penalty declared as a degrading form of punishment.
Jowie was in March 2024, sent to the gallows by Justice Grace Nzioka after he was found guilty of the murder of businesswoman Monica Kimani.
He has since filed a notice of appeal at the Appellate Court over his conviction and sentencing.
In his application before the Milimani Law Courts, Jowie said the mode in which the death penalty should be enforced is torturous, cruel and inhumane.
He said it is prohibited under Article 25 of the constitution which spells out the fundamental rights and freedoms that may not be limited. These include freedom from torture or degrading punishment, freedom from slavery, and right to fair trial.
Jowie claims that his sentencing over the Monica Kimani murder was in violation of his non-derogable right to freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman punishment and wants the court to declare as so. He has sued the Attorney General in his petition.
In 2017, the Supreme Court declared the mandatory death sentence unconstitutional but did not outlaw it.
The ruling gave judge’s discretion to decide whether to hand down the death sentence or life imprisonment.
In light of this, Jowie wants the court to declare that section 379 (4) of the criminal procedure code is unconstitutional as it denies persons sentenced to death the right to bail pending appeal.
Also sought is compensation on account of his rights being violated.
Monica was found brutally murdered at her residence Lamuria Gardens, Nairobi on September 19, 2018.
She was due to travel to Dubai the following morning but her lifeless body was found lying in a bathtub with her throat slit from ear to ear.
The Judge in convicting and sentencing Jowie said the offense committed was serious, further observing how Monica's throat was slit.
“The doctor who checked on Monica when she was found dead said her throat was cut through and through and that the person who killed her had some training. She was then put on a running bathtub to wash the blood of,” she said.
“That tells you this murder was intentional, not accidental. It was not a defensive act or out of provocation but planned, intended and executed,” she added.
The scene she said was often referred to as a slaughterhouse.
Mwangi Wa Iria's case
A magistrates court will mention the Sh352 million graft case facing former Murang'a Governor Mwangi Wa Iria and others.
Wa Iria was charged in April 2024, with fraud relating to the illegal procurement of media services, which cost the country Sh351 million between 2014 and 2017.