This archive report was first published on 25 June 2020.
On June 25, 2020, the High Court in Machakos made a crucial decision that could change the life of Julius Wambua Musyoki, a man who has been serving a life sentence since 2012 for allegedly defiling his own daughter.
According to reports, a TV feature by Citizen TV journalist Lulu Hassan in March 2019, titled 'Prison Diaries', highlighted Musyoki's plight and brought to light new evidence that questioned his conviction.
As a result, the High Court allowed for a retrial of the case, giving Musyoki a chance at freedom.
At the center of the case is Musyoki's daughter, Dorcas Mwende, who confessed in the Citizen TV feature that her father never defiled her.
She revealed that her mother had threatened to kill her if she did not cooperate and tell the story as planned.
Initially, Musyoki was accused of sexually abusing his daughter at their home in Yatta in 2011, with the court relying on two medical reports and witness statements from Mwende and her sister.
However, after his daughter confessed to framing him, Musyoki filed an appeal, which was dismissed by the Court of Appeal in May 2019.
He later went back to court in September 2019 to seek a retrial at the Machakos Law Courts, where his daughters filed affidavits recanting their previous statements.
Justice George Odunga has asked the respondents to go through the affidavits filed by Wambua's children before the commencement of trial on July 14, 2020.
