UPDATE:
Joseph 'Jowie' Irungu's friends unveiled a campaign to raise money towards Irungu's Ksh2 million cash bail. Well wishers were urged to send the funds to specified mobile money and bank accounts.
"We are mobilizing for Jowie’s bail money granted by court which amounts to Ksh 2,000,000. We are kindly requesting for your help in this time of need," wrote media personality Joe Muchiri on Twitter.
Joseph 'Jowie' Irungu was on Thursday, February 13 released from police custody on a Ksh2 million cash bail or Ksh3 million bond.
Sitting at the Milimani Law Courts, Justice James Wakiaga granted the bail noting that the prosecution had failed to provide sufficient reason why Jowie should remain in remand.
Jowie was arrested on September 25, 2018 and charged with murder following the gruesome death of 28-year-old Monica Kimani in her Kilimani apartment.
Jowie was directed by Justice Wakiaga not to comment on the case in the media including social media or anywhere else.
In addition, the private security contractor was ordered to check in with his area chief at the end of every month.
Four days after Jowie's arrest, his fiancee, former Citizen TV reporter Jacque Maribe was also apprehended as it emerged that she spent time with Jowie on the night of the fateful murder.
Maribe was, however, released on a Ksh 2 million bond on October 30, 2018.
Irungu's legal team had failed in two previous attempts to secure Irungu's release on bond with his last application rebuffed in June 2019.
In November 2019, Jowie filed a fresh application noting that protected witnesses in the case had already testified.
Monica Kimani, a businesswoman, was found in her bathtub at her Lamuria Gardens apartment in Kilimani, Nairobi on September 20, 2018 with her throat slit open.
Monica's body was discovered by her brother, George Kimani, who arrived at the apartment to check on her after failing to reach her on the phone the previous night.
Irungu's arrest soon followed as a police parade identified him as the last person seen walking out of Monica's apartment on September 19.
Irungu was a former schoolmate of Kimani, having both studied at the Kenya Polytechnic, now Technical University of Kenya.
Irungu provided security to high-profile politicians in the Jubilee Party during the 2017 General Elections and previously worked in Dubai as a security contractor.
