The Kenyan criminal justice is often criticised as the most corrupt institution in Kenya.
Stories abound of the frustrations that victims of crime undergo in the pursuit of justice or truth.
One case that demonstrates just how dysfunctional the Kenyan criminal justice is one that involves the powerful Kenyatta family.
In 1980, a member of the powerful family was murdered in a case that is yet to be resolved 28 years later.
Esther Njoki Muigai was the fifth wife of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s elder brother Peter Muigai Kenyatta.
Her body was discovered at the expansive family farm in Kasarani area. Police said she was attacked by gangsters who had earlier laid an ambush and that they killed her as she opened the gate.
However, the family farm was heavily guarded and it remains a mystery how they carried out such a crime without being detected.
The farm was located behind the Gatharaini armoury, a military compound guarded by armed soldiers at all times.
There is a public road passing by the armoury gate to the farm which raises the question of how killers went past the armoury and laid an ambush without the soldiers noticing anything.
The soldiers knew all the family members and no stranger ever went through the gate unnoticed.
Esther’s husband had died a year before her – leaving behind 22 children and four widows.
One of Peter’s wives had died earlier but all the four wives and their families lived in the same farm.
Despite the prominence of the victim, the murder received very little media attention in what a relative told the Nation was to avoid “spoiling the family name".
Another relative stated that the details of the case were revealed to a senior member of the family.
To date, Esther’s relatives are yet to understand how she was killed even though they remain optimistic.
“Their time is up and very soon," said a relative, "Whether they are family members or not, they will be known and face the law”.
