This archive report was first published on 30 June 2020.
On June 30, 2020, the High Court ordered a retrial for Kenyan rugby players Alex Olaba and Frank Wanyama, who were serving 15-year prison sentences for raping a woman in 2018.
The two players were convicted by chief magistrate Martha Mutuku of Milimani Law Courts on August 16, 2019, for gang-raping musician Wendy Kemunto at a house party in Nyayo Highrise on February 10, 2018.
According to Section 10 of the Sexual Offences Act of 2006, any person found guilty of gang-rape is liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than 15 years.
However, High Court judge Grace Ngenye Macharia directed a repeat trial for the two players after they successfully appealed their sentence.
Olaba and Wanyama, who were 23 and 22 years old at the time of the incident, respectively, had pleaded for non-custodial sentences, claiming they were drunk and the complainant had elected to spend the night at the apartment.
The two players, who have represented the national sevens rugby team, Shujaa, started their rugby careers at Strathmore University with Strathmore Leos before switching to Kenya Harlequins.
