Man wrongfully jailed over incest accusation granted bail

A man who was jailed for life in 2011 over a false incest accusation by his daughter has been freed on a cash bail of Sh30,000 as the case started afresh at the Machakos High Court.

Julius Wambua had been serving a life sentence at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison after he was convicted of defiling his daughter in 2011.

His daughter, Dorcas Mwende, confessed that she had been coached by her mother to give false evidence in court.

Wambua got a reprieve after Machakos Hgh Court Judge Justice George Odunga quashed the sentence by a Kithimani court and a ruling by the Court of Appeal in May 2019.

“The case should begin afresh and all sentences by the Kithimani court and the High Court be quashed,” Justice George Odunga ruled.

The Judge further noted that Mr Wambua is deemed innocent and there are no compelling reasons to deny him bond.

Mr Wambua’s case came into the limelight after Citizen TV aired an interview of his reunion with the daughter at a time he had already served eight years behind bars.

On Wednesday, Justice Odunga ruled that Wambua did not deserve to be in jail after it became clear that his daughter, who was then a minor, had been coached by her mother to give false evidence.

At the time of the alleged incident, Wambua had been having marital differences with his wife.

Concocted evidence

“The petitioners have proved the new compelling evidence that the alleged victim of incest gave concocted evidence through coercion,” Judge Odunga noted.

The judge further pointed out that it was unacceptable for parents to use children as instruments in their domestic warfare.

Wambua, alongside Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, had petitioned the High Court seeking to have the life sentence, issued in 2012 by a Principal Magistrate's Court in Kithimani, quashed, citing availability of new and compelling evidence.

Justice Odunga granted Wambua a Sh30,000 cash bail, pending any appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) who was listed as the second respondent.

Mr Wambua, who appeared in court via Skype from Kamiti Maximum Security Prison, said he will return to court on Monday 21, 2020, in case the DPP appeals.

The daughter, speaking to journalists outside the Machakos court, said that she has gone through a lot of pain after framing her dad.

“I have searched myself and realised that I did wrong to him and God. That is why I came clean. Today`s verdict is a win for me and my dad,” she said.

Mwende also said she is grateful that her father has forgiven her.