Two ex-Kenya Rugby Sevens players Frank Wanyama and Alex Olaba have on Tuesday 7 July been released on an Sh300,000 cash bail each. The two had been sentenced to 15 years in jail in August last year for gang rape.
This comes barely a week after the high court ordered the re-trial of Wanyama and Olaba as well as their move to Kilimani Police Station to prepare to take plea before Tuesday, July 11. The court, in the ruling, noted existing records did not show whether one of the witnesses was sworn or not.
This case was to be heard again at a lower court.
In August last year, Milimani Chief Magistrate Martha Mutuku ruled that Frank Wanyama and Alex Olaba be jailed for 15 years each.
“The complainant was traumatized hence a deterrent sentence is necessary,” she ruled.
The verdict was read in-camera, with only the accuser and respondents present. The rugby duo who played for Kenya Harlequin and the national rugby 7s team was charged with gang-raping a woman named WA on February 10 2019 at an apartment in Highrise, Nairobi County.
The events that have now culminated in the sentencing started at a party in Spring Valley. The artiste said one player lured her to his house after they left the party. According to her, the two raped her in turns, as she fell in and out of consciousness.
In a series of posts on social media, she narrated how she had been raped on her birthday. WA claimed she became pregnant from the ordeal. Frank and Alex maintained the sexual escapade was mutually agreed.