Joseph “Jowie” Irungu
The release of Embakasi East MP, Babu Owino, from police custody on Monday, sparked a heated social media debate on the objectivity of the judiciary, in light of the continued imprisonment of one Joe Irungu, alias Jowie.
The prisoner, who was sent away to Manyani Prison in December, after having spent more than a year at the Kamiti Maximum Prison, was jailed even before his case was determined, a case in which he alleged murdered businesswoman Monica Kimani.
According to concerned Netizens, the Judiciary must have a very big bone to pick with Jowie, seeing as to how he had severally been denied release, while other high profile murder suspects were freed in the blink of an eye.
In the latest such incident, Babu was released from custody, despite there being video evidence that he indeed attempted to kill one Felix Orinda during a night club brawl.
In the CCTV footage that went viral on social media following the Jan. 17 incident, the MP is seen shooting Orinda, alias DJ Evolve, without the slightest sign of remorse.
According to social media users, the legislator and other previously accused persons were the ones supposed to remain rotting behind bars, while Jowie deserved to catch a break since no tangible evidence had been collected in his case yet.
The same discussion ensued in October 2019, when one Sarah Cohen, the main suspect in the murder of her husband Tob Cohen, was released from police custody on bail, despite all evidence pointing to her having had a hand in the gruesome murder of her spouse.
Cohen’s body was discovered rotting away in a septic tank unit in his Kitisuru home’s compound.
Kenyans wondered why Jowie had to spend all that time in prison yet he was innocent until proven guilty, with some noting that the justice system seemed to favor the wealthy class in the country.
Some legal elites, however, noted that Jowie’s case was incomparable to Babu’s situation since the former’s victim had died while the latter’s was recuperating in hospital.
This was, nevertheless unconvincing, since there were other murder suspects who were walking free such as Sarah, and Migori Governor Okoth Obado, who allegedly plotted the murder of his young girlfriend Sharon Otieno and her unborn child.
