How Kenyan courts benefit the mighty and punish the needy

campaign is a time-consuming business. Prudent candidates therefore like to rid themselves of distractions well beforehand. Aisha Jumwa, an running to become a county governor in Kenya’s general election on August 9th, is a model of efficiency in this regard. On April 5th, after a judge ruled that prosecution evidence had been withheld from Ms Jumwa’s lawyer, she secured a five-month delay in a trial where she is accused of murdering a political rival’s uncle. Six days later she persuaded a magistrate hearing a separate case in which she is charged with embezzling constituency funds to grant a similar postponement. Ms Jumwa denies both charges.Mathew Lempurkel was meant to be missing August’s election since he was in prison after being convicted of assaulting the woman who unseated him as the last time Kenyans went to the polls, in 2017. In December, however, a judge agreed to release him pending an appeal. Mr Lempurkel, a populist who is also on trial for hate speech, has been cleared to run against his former victim.