This archive report was first published on 8 August 2019.
On August 8, 2019, a Nairobi court found two Kenya Rugby Sevens players, Frank Wanyama and Alex Olaba, guilty of rape.
The duo was accused of raping a local musician on February 11, 2018, at Seefa apartments in Highrise, Nairobi. They had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Wanyama and Olaba were initially freed on a Sh1 million bond with a surety of the same amount or a cash bail of 500,000 shillings on April 23, 2018.
However, the rape allegations emerged on March 31, 2018, after a woman identified as "W. A." claimed that one of the players, who was her friend, raped her after she had agreed to go to his house for her birthday.
According to her online posts, she blamed Wanyama, accusing him of refusing to take responsibility when she reached out to him. She also feared Wanyama's influence, which is why she did not report the matter to the police initially.
The players were briefly held in police custody before being taken to hospital for medical examination. They were later released on a Sh500,000 police cash bail each and ordered to surrender their passports.
