Monica Kimani's family speaks after court finds Jowie guilty of murder
George Kimani, brother of the late businesswoman Monica Kimani, speaks at the Milimani Law Court in Nairobi on February 9, 2024.
The family of late businesswoman Monica Kimani has said they are relieved after the conviction of their daughter's killer Joseph Irungu, alias Jowie, on Friday.
Speaking to the Nation after the verdict, Mr George Kimani, a brother of the deceased who discovered Monica's body in a bathtub, said: "At least we have come to the end of the long journey and the long wait for justice".
He said they were happy with the judgment.
Mr Kimani, a former collegemate of Jowie, said: "Although it took a long time, six years, we are happy with today's verdict".
He said justice had finally been served and added that as a family they were "relieved".
He said it had been crazy for them as a family but they had to wait patiently for the wheels of justice to grind slowly.
"The matter has taken so long to be resolved. It has been six years now," Mr Kimani said.
Speaking of his parents, Mr Kimani said they "wanted the matter to be concluded so that they could move on":
Mr Kimani told Nation that as a family they had been thrown into a state of confusion and anxiety since the death of his sister.
He said they will now await the sentence which will be delivered on March 8, 2024, after the probation office receives the victim's impact statement and a probation report on the convict.
Mr Kimani gave the exclusive interview to Nation after Justice Grace Nzioka found that "it was Jowie who murdered Monicah Kimani on September 19, 2018".
The police did not demystify why Jowie had to end the life of Monicah, the managing director of Millypol General Trading Company Limited, based in Juba, South Sudan.
The family business was involved in cleaning services and interior design. The company had won a tender to offer cleaning services to UAP Company Limited.
On February 8, 2024, Mr Kimani said in an interview, "It has taken a long time, we have been going to court for over five years, we knew the matter would end last year so that we could all calm down and then move on. We have had tough days, more so our parents, but we just put up with the situation.
He described his late sister as a kind, hardworking and selfless woman.
"She was our firstborn and the driving force behind the family business in South Sudan where she was the managing director. She was my boss, a good friend and a hard worker. It was painful to lose her in such a cruel way," he said.
"Those who knew my sister on a personal level know that she was generous, she nurtured and brought out the best in people, she was a loving sister, and she played a very big role in our family. There are things she bought for us that we will never forget," Mr Kimani said.
"Her biggest mistake was that she thought everyone was her friend, because of her big heart, she welcomed everyone and did not know how to distinguish between friends and enemies," he said.
He said that although the family had recovered some of her sister's belongings, they were yet to get her Sh4 million house in Kiambu almost six years later.
"We are yet to get the house, we got almost everything else, whatever is left is with the prosecution team," he said.
Monica, then 28, was brutally murdered on September 19, 2018, at her Lamuria Garden apartment in the Kilimani area in Nairobi.
TV journalist Jacque Maribe and Joseph Irungu, alias Jowie, were charged with the murder on October 15, 2018.
