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Kenya’s High Court is to hear the high-profile murder case against former Wananchi CEO Richard Alden in September.

Richard Alden

According to local reports, Justice Jessie Lessit fixed a hearing date for the case after Alden’s defence lawyer told the court that his client wanted the matter to be dealt with quickly.

The case is coming to court after Kenya’s director of public prosecutions rejected an out-of-court settlement, according to the Mediamax news service.

Alden, 54, formerly the CEO of Kenyan free and pay TV outfit Wananchi and a previous CEO of Spanish cable operator Ono, was charged with the murder of Grace Wangechi Kinyanjui at his home in the Karen district of Nairobi in June last year. He was subsequently granted bail.

In November, the case was adjourned after the victim’s family intervened to say the believed her death was an accident rather than an intentional murder. The family denied at the time that they had received a financial settlement.

Kinyanjui, with whom Alden was alleged to be in a relationship, was shot while in his home. Alden’s lawyer claimed at the time that Kinyanjui shot herself while Alden was in a different room in the house.