The High Court in Nairobi has overturned the conviction and 100-year prison sentence of Stephen Nzuki Mutisya, the former director of Scream Africa Children’s Home, ruling that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Justice Alexander Muasya Muteti, in a judgment delivered virtually, found the convictions for multiple counts of defilement and an indecent act to be “unsafe” and ordered Nzuki’s immediate release.
Nzuki had been convicted by a lower court in 2022 on three counts of defilement and one count of committing an indecent act with a child. The charges alleged that he sexually assaulted several boys under his care at the home in Utawala between 2010 and 2016. The trial magistrate had sentenced him to 50 years, 20 years, 20 years, and 10 years on the respective counts, ordering the sentences to run consecutively, totaling 100 years imprisonment.
During the appeal,John Swaka for the appellant, argued that the case was a fabrication. The High Court judge agreed, pointing to what he described as a coordinated scheme to frame the appellant. The judgment highlighted the central role of a teacher, Joseph Muraya, who was a prosecution witness. The court found that Mr. Muraya met with the boys after they were expelled from the institution and facilitated their reports to the children’s officer. Crucially, Mr. Muraya was subsequently employed by Pehucci Children’s Home, the very institution where the boys were relocated.
Justice Muteti stated that the evidence presented by the prosecution was “barely adequate” and filled with material contradictions. He noted that while the prosecution witnesses claimed they were reporting sexual abuse, the District Children’s Officer testified that the boys were brought to her for placement after being expelled for inciting others. The judge concluded that the sexual abuse allegations appeared to be an “afterthought.”
The court also found a fatal lack of medical evidence to support the victims’ claims. Medical reports for all the complainants showed no physical evidence of defilement or anal injuries. While a medical witness explained that such injuries can heal quickly, the judge ruled that this left the court with only the uncorroborated oral testimony of the victims, whose credibility was seriously in question.
Furthermore, the judge drew an “adverse inference” from the prosecution’s failure to call key witnesses, including a woman named Brigid, who the defense alleged was the mastermind of the plot to take over the children’s home. The court held that their absence suggested their testimony would have been damaging to the prosecution’s case.
In his ruling, Justice Muteti emphasized that the trial court had failed to properly consider Nzuki’s defense, which included witnesses who testified to the conspiracy. He found that the evidence of a frame-up, coupled with the long delay in reporting the incidents and alterations found on age assessment documents, created reasonable doubt. The convictions were therefore quashed, the sentences set aside, and Stephen Nzuki Mutisya was ordered to be freed unless held for any other lawful reason.
