Freed ex-soldiers begin painful journey to rebuild their lives

A Former Military officer Romano Ntong'ondu (3rd left), and Jonathan Murimi (2nd right) and a colleagues (left) among others celebrate with their relatives outside the gates of Shimo La tewa Prison in Mombasa County on Monday,024th August,2015 night . The Former Officers had just been released from the maximum prison following their succesful appeal in which the Mombasa high court judge Martin Muya last Friday ordered the 25 officers released immediately. The victims were last year sentenced to life imprisonment by three Military Courts for alleged desertion of work.PHOTO BY MAARUFU MOHAMED/STANDARD

On Monday, at approximately 8.30pm, they walked out into loving hands of their relatives and friends. Like all trained soldiers, the 25 who included one officer, praised prison authorities for treating them with respect, wore stoic faces and vowed to chart fresh beginnings.

However, after speaking to several as they left prison, it was clear that beyond the cool demeanour lay stories of trauma from prison life and lives turned upside down by the course of the trial.