Pardon my mother, murdered Kiru principal’s daughter tells court
Pain rose to meet with self-pity as she pleaded with the virtual court: “My father was my best friend and we were very close. His absence still hurts. We all want justice for my father. However, the absence of both parents hurts more and has affected me and my siblings.”
Ms June Valentine Mbuthi’s tone had a hint of desperation. She lost her father – Solomon Mwangi Mbuthi (former Kiru Boys Secondary School principal) in 2016, and now, the court was going to sentence her mother, Jane Muthoni Mucheru, for his murder.
The late Solomon Mwangi, principal of Kiru Boys High School in Murang'a who was murdered in November 2016.
In her plea to the court, Mbuthi’s daughter – cowering behind the screens of technology – narrated how challenging life had been for her and her siblings, whom she said had turned to well-wishers for survival.
She recounted the strong bond she had with her father, noting his death and the arrest of her mother had deprived the siblings of love and parental care; and proceeded to request the court to “have mercy on my mum”. She told the court that her presence would impact their present and future life.
School fees arrears
“We do not have anyone we can rely on for our family needs. We have been depending on our relatives and it has been so tough. We have school fees arrears and also crave for parental love,” noted the final-year student at the University of Nairobi.
She was barely 18 years old when she witnessed her father’s burial in Nyandarua County and the subsequent arrest and locking-up of her mother at Lang’ata women’s prison. She said she believes her mother is still innocent and that she is being falsely condemned.
At the time of her father’s ghastly murder, she had just cleared high school while her two twin sisters and her last-born brother were still in primary school.
Following the abrupt twist in the life of a once complete family, June — the first-born child in the family — was forced to assume all the parental responsibilities at a tender age.
Mother found guilty
Her hope was that the case would be expeditiously resolved and her mother released to resume her responsibility to the family, but four years later, the siblings were forced to swallow another bitter pill after the High Court found her mother guilty of murder.
She was present throughout the grim proceedings, as her mother was pleading to the charges of murder and during the trial. She saw it all as the witnesses gave evidence implicating her mother in the murder plan. June also listened as her mother, all the while cornered by the prosecution, tried to defend herself from the crime.
As her mother made three unsuccessful applications for her release on bond over health concerns, June could do nothing but sympathise.
Ms Jane Muthoni when she appeared before Justice Joel Ngugi on February 18, 2020.
She said apart from challenges of getting basic needs, her family had been bedevilled by stigma following the highly publicised murder.
On April 22, the High Court in Nakuru found June’s mother, Jane Muthoni, guilty of the murder of Mr Mbuthi, whose body was recovered at Karakuta Coffee Estate in Kiambu County on November 6, 2016.
She was convicted alongside her co-accused, Isaac Ng’ang’a.
Jane Muthoni (right) and her co-accused Isaac Ng'a ng'a in court on November 22, 2017.
In his ruling, the judge noted Muthoni hatched a murder plan and hired three men to eliminate her husband, whom she accused of infidelity.
Push for death sentence
The prosecution is now pushing for her death sentence but the children said they could not imagine another period without the care and love of the parent.
In her mitigation, Muthoni pleaded with the court for leniency, saying she was the only remaining bread winner for the children who have been suffering since the time she was arrested.
“It is my prayer that the court considers the fact that my family and I have gone through a traumatic experience since 2016 amid threats and attempted assault on my daughter. My children have continued to suffer yet the people who committed these crimes are out there walking free and celebrating the fruits of injustice,” said Muthoni.
Her lawyer, Mr Francis Njanja, confirmed that June has been taking care of the other children.
But the prosecution, led by Ms Catherine Mwaniki, urged the court to impose a maximum penalty on the suspects.
Ms Mwaniki submitted that the circumstances of the case meet the threshold for the maximum penalty as stipulated in law.
“Solomon Mwangi's death did not result from a spontaneous act of violence or self-defence, but from well-executed murder plan. Furthermore, none of the accused persons has shown remorse for their action throughout the course of trial,” said Ms Mwaniki.
Justice Ngugi said he would deliver his sentence ruling on June 3 after considering the submissions of both parties. BY DAILY NATION
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