How Kenyan courts benefit the mighty and punish the needy

Fighting an election campaign is a time-consuming business. Prudent candidates therefore like to rid themselves of distractions well beforehand. Aisha Jumwa, an mp 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.