How innocent men are sent to the gallows

John Cardinal Njue serves Holy Communion to prisoners at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison in March, during a visit to confirm prisoners who had earlier been baptised into the Catholic faith. [Photo: Mbugua Kibera/Standard]

Kenya: In early 1993 in a village in Machakos County, neighbours rose against each other over land. The fight turned tragic when the body of a man was discovered dumped on the roadside one morning. The victim was identified as Bernard Kioko.

When police arrived, they arrested Boniface Mwalili Yuma, who was one of those involved in the fight. Yuma was subsequently charged and eventually sentenced to death in the same year for the murder of Kioko, despite maintaining his innocence. He went to the Court of Appeal in 1994.