Willie Kimani’s wife says unable to forgive his killers

Saturday, 11th February 2023

The guilty verdicts and subsequent sentencing of the killers of human rights lawyer Willie Kimani came as a relief for his wife, but she says she may never be able to forgive his husband’s killers.

In a Friday interview with Citizen TV’s Lulu Hassan, Hannah Kimani opened up about her husband’s murder in the hands of rogue police officers, the lengthy court case and how his demise changed her life.

Hannah narrated to Lulu how Kimani’s death had been a very traumatic experience for her and her family.

While responding to a question on whether she may ever be able to forgive his killers, she pointed out that it may be a tall order to do so.

The convicts, led by the mastermind Fredrick Leliman, had asked for forgiveness following Justice Jessie Lessit’s guilty verdict in July 2022.

“He is now asking for forgiveness. But I lost a husband, Kimani’s parents lost a son, Kimani’s siblings lost a brother. I lost a husband and father. He still has a chance to see his children, even if he will be in jail. But I will never see Kimani again. He is gone,” Hannah said with a heavy heart.

“Talking about Willie’s death is still a difficult thing for me, but when Justice Jessie Lesiit read the verdict I felt a relief and my heart was at peace,” she added.
Leliman was handed a death sentence, while his co-accused Stephen Lelei, Stephen Wanjiku and Peter Ngugi were handed jail sentences ranging from 20 to 30 years.

Alongside Kimani, the four were also found guilty of murdering Josephat Mwenda and Joseph Muiruri.
On her part, Muiruri’s sister Stella Muiruri, who was also part of the interview, said it had been a very difficult trial for her as she had to listen to harrowing tales of how her brother was murdered by people who were supposed to protect him.

Like Hannah, Stella also said it was not easy forgiving Kimani’s killers.

“Forgiving them for taking our relatives from us is not easy at the moment,” she said.

“All we have of Muiruri are memories, my brother did not have a family, the only memory we have is going to his grave to see where he was buried,” she added.