Attempted murder suspect Alex Olaba detained for 7 days

Alex Olaba is accused of attempting to kill a key witness in a rape case against him. [Collins Kweyu, Standard]

Former Kenya Sevens rugby player Alex Olaba has been detained for seven days to allow detectives time to complete probe into accusation of attempted murder of rape witness.

Milimani Senior Resident Magistrate Bernard Ochoi on Friday, April 23 allowed the DCI detectives’ request to hold the suspect for a week, saying the accusations levelled against Olaba were weighty and deserved thorough investigations before a formal suit is filed.

The Investigating Officer, George Otieno, told the court that Olaba made several direct and indirect attempts at contacting witnesses.

“When he failed to get a positive response from one of the witnesses, he resorted to unlawful and desperate mechanisms to silence the witness,” said Otieno.

Olaba will be detained at the Kilimani Police Station.

The suspect was arrested on Thursday, April 22 in Nairobi West, where he was allegedly meeting an undercover detective to plot the murder of a key witness in a rape offence he’s accused of.

It is alleged Olaba had approached another party to help him in the plot.

The person he had contacted reportedly informed police, who laid a trap with the undercover agent to bust the suspect.

Olaba and his co-accused, Frank Wanyama, were in August 2019 sentenced to 15 years in jail each for gang-rape by the magistrate’s court in Nairobi.

The court was told that the duo jointly sexually abused a woman during a party on February 10, 2019 at an apartment in Highrise, Nairobi.

In June 2020, a superior court, however, quashed the duo’s sentencing, saying the lower court erred in its ruling, and that a retrial should take place. The High Court observed there was no evidence indicating one of the key witnesses was sworn in before taking the stand.

Olaba and Wanyama were, consequently, released on a cash bail of Sh300,000 each.