A man who was falsely accused of defiling his 15-year-old daughter and sentenced to life imprisonment 8 years ago will now get a fresh trial.
Machakos Judge George Odunga ordered for a fresh trial of Julius Wambua Musyoki who told the court that he was framed by his ex-wife. Judge Odunga further released Wambua who was serving a term in Kamiti Maximum Prison on an Sh30,000 cash bail pending his a fresh trial.
“The Proceedings, conviction, and sentence in Kithimani Principal Magistrate’s S.O.A Case No. 17 of 2011 and the subsequent decisions upholding the same are hereby quashed and/or set aside,’ he ruled.
The judge urged couples not to use their children to settle scores as was in this case where the wife used her daughter to get back at her husband.
“Spouses and couples ought to remember that their children are not their properties. While they have legal parental obligations over them and in African set up the children have moral obligations to take care of their parents, parents have no right to treat their children as “scud missiles” or “patriots” against each other as a means of domestic warfare,” the court held.
The judge further ruled “They should learn to fight their own wars and battles without involving or seeking the support of their children, particularly where the children are minors.
To do so is not only unlawful but is also immoral, “Justice Odunga ruled that Wambua had proved to his satisfaction that the evidence by his two daughters that they had been coerced was not available at the time of trial.
Therefore, according to the court he has proved he has new evidence as contemplated under Article 50(6) of the Constitution. The court also noted that the evidence of the fabricated testimony based on coercion would have been admissible at the trial.
The man who has been behind bars for nine years sought a retrial after the daughter confessed to lying in court.
The man has waged a nine-year battle to prove his innocence. He wants the constitutional court to order a fresh trial, where the recanted evidence will be considered.