Winfred Waithera King'ori, the mother of the late Ivy Wangechi on Thursday, May 27, expressed frustrations on the dragging of her daughter's murder case.
Speaking from the Eldoret High Court, Wangechi's mother decried that the family had undergone through emotional and financial frustrations after the defense lawyer failed to show up in court on a number of occasions.
"I am a very frustrated mother to a dead girl...Since 2019, I have wished that I was born in another country where there is justice for people.
"What I have learnt from this process is that the accused people in the prison and jails have rights but believe you me, people whose members have been murdered have no rights," she stated.
The case was adjourned on Thursday for the fifth time on claims that the defense lawyer withdrew from the matter.
"Everytime we come here, somebody comfortably says that the lawyer is not available and my question is, was it not known from as early as yesterday that the lawyer was not available," she posed.
Due to the frustrations by the defense lawyer, the prosecution is yet to open the case almost three years after the incident took place.
"Every week that we are coming here as Ivy's family, everybody goes back into a state of mourning and nobody talks to another. Some of us have come as far as Thika, Nyeri and others from the Coast...every time we come, we use 60,000 to 100,000," she added.
Stephen Githinji, the judge presiding over the matter has asked the defense team to appoint another lawyer immediately so that the case can be fast tracked.
Wangechi, who was a medical student at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in Eldoret, made headlines in April 2019 after she was hacked to death in broad daylight.
Following the murder, Naftali Kinuthia was arrested as the prime suspect in the case.
"My question is, do I have a right as a Kenyan? How can someone wake up early in the morning and go all the way to Eldoret to kill my daughter and then seats comfortably in the prisons as I work as a teacher and most of my money goes to tax to pay for his meals in prison," a distraught Waithera posed.
"I will fight for justice, if they are trying to frustrate me, I want to tell them that I will be here even at the age of 70. If I die because of this case, so be it," she concluded.
