01/07/2026
I am Francis Sakwa, a 66-year-old father of six from Butere, once a hardworking businessman trying to provide for my family. I lived with my wife and children in Nakuru, where we hustled daily to make ends meet. We only visited our rural home in Butere during school holidays, and even then, only after securing school fees for the next term. That was our family rhythm—stable, focused on the children’s future.
But one day, things began to change. My wife decided she would no longer travel home with us as a family. When I asked her, “What about if I die?” she replied coldly, “Nitakupeleka nikuzike na nirudi na watu wa kanisa (I will take you, bury you, and return with church members).” Those words disturbed me deeply. I consulted two elderly men, respected and older than me, for advice. They warned that it could mean either family members involved in witchcraft or, worse, that my wife had another man coaching her, planning to leave me soon.
Fear of abandonment gripped me. To protect myself and secure my family’s future in case she left, I decided to marry a second wife. This decision did not sit well with my first wife. She consulted her friends, who told her to stay calm—they would help bring me back to her.
What followed was a betrayal I never saw coming. They went to the school where my children studied, colluded with the administration, and fabricated a horrific defilement case against me using my own daughter, who was in STD 6 at the time. The school took her straight to the police, then to hospital, where the case was carefully cooked up. I was arrested in 2015 and charged with defiling my own child.
I was never subjected to any medical examination to confirm or clear me. The doctor who actually examined my daughter was different from the one who testified in court. The medical report noted that the h***n was broken but no s***m was found. Even my daughter confirmed in her statement that neither her clothes were torn nor was there any blood. The truth is, I was never alone at home with her—my wife always prepared the children for school before we both left for our daily hustle. There was simply no opportunity for what they accused me of.
Yet none of this mattered. I was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. I have now spent 11 long years at Nakuru Main Prison, waiting for the judgment on my appeal, still hoping and praying to be set free and reunited with my family.
My name is Francis Sakwa. I am not a criminal. I am a father who worked hard, loved his children, and made one fearful decision that was twisted into a weapon to destroy me. I maintain my innocence to this day. I pray that justice will finally see the full truth—the collusion, the false evidence, and the broken family behind it all. One day, I hope to walk out of these prison gates a free man.
Do you think Sakwa is innocent and he should be free?
