This archive report was first published on 15 August 2019.
On July 24, 2005, Raymond Waweru Mwangi committed a heinous crime by defiling a five-year-old girl. He was subsequently charged and sentenced to 15 years in prison by a trial magistrate under the Sexual Offences Act.
However, Mwangi appealed the sentence, and in 2009, High Court Judge Msagha Mbogholi enhanced his sentence to life imprisonment. Undeterred, Mwangi appealed again, and this time, he was successful.
On August 5, 2005, Mwangi was charged before a senior resident magistrate's court in Makadara with having carnal knowledge of a girl aged five and a half years. He pleaded not guilty to the offence.
But in a shocking twist, the prosecutor applied to substitute the charge, citing the Sexual Offences Act, which had come into operation in July 2006. The application was allowed, and Mwangi was charged with defilement of a child contrary to section 8(1) as read with section 8(2) of the Sexual Offences Act.
Alternatively, Mwangi was charged with committing an indecent act with a child, contrary to section 11(1) of the Sexual Offences Act. He pleaded not guilty to the new charges.
But in a stunning reversal, the Court of Appeal quashed the conviction and life imprisonment, citing that Mwangi was charged under an act that did not exist at the time of the crime. The court directed that the 15 years in prison were to start running from 2009 when he was sentenced by the trial magistrate.
