A man who was sentenced to life in prison for allegedly raping his daughter has had his conviction quashed ahead of a retrial.
Julius Wambua had already served eight years in prison before his daughter recanted her damning statement. Wambua’s story aired on Citizen TV’s ‘Prison Diaries’ in March 2019, when his sobbing daughter Dorcas Wambua claimed that her mother orchestrated the defilement case.
Dorcas confessed that her mother coerced her to frame her father for personal gain.
On Wednesday, High Court Judge George Odunga overturned the sentence and released Wambua on a cash bail of Sh30,000 pending retrial.
Justice Odunga ruled that Wambua is deemed an innocent person and there are no compelling reasons to deny him bond. He also noted that his case had garnered considerable public interest.
“The petitioner’s appeal has been considered and determined that he was accused by someone who was coached and wasn’t using her own words, therefore justice must be rendered. Pw2 and Pw3 were coerced and threatened by their mother and police so as to implicate the accused over incest and coached on what to say in court. Justice didn’t happen at the time of trial since Pw2 was a minor and was under coercion by the mother,” Odunga stated.
“The case should begin afresh and all sentences by the Kithimani Court and High Court be quashed,” he added.
