Nyamira MCA accused of defilement acquitted for lack of evidence

A Nyamira MCA who had been accused of defiling a schoolgirl in 2019 has been acquitted.

Fred Nyachae, of Magwagwa Ward, walked out of Keroka Law Courts on Wednesday a free man after Senior Resident Magistrate Samuel Arome ruled he had no case to answer.

Nyachae had been charged that on the night of September 2 and 3, he committed an indecent act with a girl aged 17 at a lodging in Kisii town.

On the second count, Nyachae was accused of committing the actual sexual act with the girl, a Form Four candidate at a school in Kisumu County, in the same lodging.  

The MCA denied the two charges.

And Wednesday, the court dismissed the case on grounds the prosecution failed to prove its case against the MCA.

Arome said the prosecution never did enough in fortifying the case he said was only based on suspicion. And as a result, the suspect could not be put to his defense.

In its finding, the court said the girl, who was the main witness in the case of the alleged defilement, could not be relied upon especially after some inconsistencies were found in her evidence.

The witness who at the time was a student at a Kisumu school, in her testimony, created an impression she was not being a straightforward person especially after the court recounted her movements before and after the time of the alleged act.

At first, the girl told the court that she had lied to her mother that she was going to a nearby shopping center, within Nyamira North sub-county, and that she would return soon after. Instead, she proceeded to a different place where she met another girl with whom she reportedly traveled to Kisii Town, in the MCA’s car.

Further, the court questioned the credibility of her evidence. This was after she told the court that after allegedly spending the night with the MCA, he dropped her in Nyamira, near her home, before she again boarded a matatu back to Kisii where she was found by her relatives. 

The court said it could not believe the girl, especially on her account that she could not remember the exact place where she allegedly slept with the accused person, a factor that further dented the credibility of the case.

“Her evidence has some gaps that go down to her credibility. I say so because first and foremost, she stated before the court that she was unable to remember the said guest house where she spent the night with the accused. This made the investigating officer, who was also among the prosecution witnesses, fail to locate the alleged scene of the crime,” the magistrate said.

Arome added: “I highly doubt that indeed the victim herein didn’t know where she spent the night simply because if she went there during the night, then she would still be able to know where she had slept the following day in the morning.”

The court further observed that the prosecution did a shoddy job in its role of producing the case before it.

Arome said the prosecutor was only able to produce a birth certificate and medical treatment notes which all could not be proof of the alleged offence.

“The treatment notes and the P3 form produced as evidence indicated that there were no injuries on the girl’s genitalia and that the only thing indicated was the presence of menstrual blood. And that was explained by the presence of red blood cells in her urine,” Arome ruled.

“I wish to conclude that the prosecution has not rendered sufficient evidence to warrant a prima facie case thus making the accused person be placed in his defense. I find that he has no case to answer and he is set free forthwith under section 210 of the Criminal Procedures Code.”

Mr Nyachae said the ruling was welcome especially at the time he was launching his campaigns for the North Mugirango parliamentary seat.

“I know this was pure witch-hunt that was instigated by my political enemies. But I will push on with my campaigns now that I have been vindicated,” the second-term MCA said.