Daniel Wanyeki spent 17 years behind bars at Kamiti Maximum Prison after being wrongly convicted on defilement charges that are now confirmed to be false. When he was arrested in 2007, his daughter was just seven years old. Today, as a 24-year-old, she has revealed that she was forced to give false testimony implicating her father in the crime.
She disclosed that the pressure came from multiple sources, including her uncle, Stephen Gachanja, her grandmother, and a female police officer. They instructed her to accuse her father of repeated sexual abuse. The underlying reason was a bitter inheritance dispute over their late father’s estate, worth over KSh 50 million. Gachanja allegedly intended to sell part of the property without consent, and when Wanyeki opposed him, he orchestrated a scheme to frame him using his niece, securing support from other family members and local officials.
On November 27, 2007, Wanyeki was arrested and charged with two counts of incest at Thika Law Courts. While his older daughter refuted the allegations, the younger girl testified that daily abuse had occurred. Despite discrepancies in her statements, Wanyeki was convicted and sentenced to 20 years, later upgraded to life imprisonment on appeal, compounding the injustice.
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In 2020, Wanyeki’s daughter reached out from adulthood, confessing that she had been coerced into lying and confirming her father’s innocence. Her testimony has become pivotal in reopening the case, leading to the annulment of his previous conviction and remittance for a new trial. After nearly two decades of wrongful imprisonment, Wanyeki is finally on the path to justice, revealing the painful betrayal by his own family and the restoration of truth.