A Judge freed two brothers in Kisima-Buuri of Meru county after they were convicted of murder they did not commit.
Ambrose Nkaricia and Henry Nkaricia were arrested in 2005 and spent nearly 15 years in prison before the brothers were exonerated in 2020.
Ambrose Nkaricia told BaiteTv that his father left him plowing potatoes one day in 2005 and said he’d return at 1:00 pm after getting his medicine from the market. When it got to 5.30 p.m., It began to rain heavily and he decided to leave the field.
“I heard a loud scream outside my house around 11:00 p.m. I rushed over to see what was going on and discovered that my father’s house was on fire.
“When my brother arrived, we attempted to extinguish the fire with buckets of water, but it proved difficult. We saw our father lying down while still breathing the moment we decided to look for horse pipe so we could connect the water from a tap and use it to put out the fire.
“We tried to find a car to take him to the hospital, but due to the rain, it became impossible, and he left us. We agreed that my brother would report the incident to the Subuiga police station, while I would report to my uncle in Karimba.
“My uncle requested that I report the incident to the Timau police station. When the officer on duty asked, I told him the incident happened in Kisima. He also asked why I hadn’t reported it to Subuiga police station, to which I replied that it was the closest police station because I had gone to inform my uncle.
“I was told to wait while he contacted the Subuiga police station. When he inquired, he was told by the Subuiga OCS that he should arrest me because my brother had also been arrested and imprisoned. I was transferred to the Subuiga police station, where we were held in cells for three and a half months.
“After three and a half months, I asked the OCS why I had been imprisoned for so long without being taken to court. I threatened to walk out of the cells and that I didn’t care if they shot me.
“We were arrested and charged with murder on February 15, 2006. We were imprisoned in the cells for five years. Fortunately, the judge was only assigned to our case, and it was discovered that the Judge did not make a fair ruling based on a report we presented to the court.
“The OCS was told to return to Kisima and collect reports, but when he arrived, he was bribed. The court had to wait a year for the report. Judge Issac was assigned to Machakos, and our case was assigned to Judge Anyara.
“Our lawyer, Mr. Muchangi, requested that the judge refrain from making a decision because a report had yet to be presented to the court. The judge said the report would be delayed, so he sentenced us to death.
“When I asked why he made the decision without considering the report, he stared at us for 20 minutes. He told us that if we appealed the ruling, we might be released, and he issued another ruling ordering us to sue the government for damages,” he said.
Henry Nkaricia told BaiteTv that when their stepmother began the process of selling the family, they were arrested and locked up at Subuiga police station. A document proving the claims was brought to him by a good samaritan sent by God while he was in jail.
“I presented it in court as proof that we were not guilty. We were freed after the court ruled that she had evil motives. We later discovered that she had sold a portion of the land but we took the matter to court and were successful in reclaiming the land,” he said.
The brothers are requesting compensatory damages for their time in prison and punitive damages caused.
