Freedom at 60: Kirinyaga man returns home after 20 years behind bars

Wakabiu returned home after serving a 20-year sentence, a chapter of his life that began on November 12, 2006. For years, his family waited. On his release, age had caught up with him, but so had long-awaited relief.

His homecoming was emotional. Neighbours gathered as family members embraced him tightly, some in tears, others in disbelief that the day they had prayed for had finally arrived.

“Prison is not a good place for human beings; it is like another country,” Wakabiu said quietly during the small ceremony held in his honour. “When someone takes you to prison, that person does not love you.”

He spoke of the harsh realities of life behind bars, recounting transfers between Nyeri, Kerugoya and Mwea GK prisons. The years, he said, were marked by strict regimens, humiliation and the constant reminder that time outside was moving on without him.

Wakabiu maintains that he was wrongfully convicted in a defilement case he describes as fabricated. He claims the accusations stemmed from an incident involving a young girl who used to buy chapatis at his food kiosk in Nyamindi area, Mwea East. According to him, a misunderstanding spiralled into allegations that changed his life forever.

Despite the bitterness of the experience, it is not anger that defined his return — but gratitude.

His mother, Damaris Chini, now elderly herself, said her greatest prayer had been to see her son walk home a free man while she was still alive.

“I am happy he has come back when I am still here,” she said, her face lighting up as she sat beside him. “I never lost hope. I prayed every day for him.”

For 20 years, the family stood by him. His brother Robert Njoka and sister Safarini Wanjiku visited when they could, sent support and kept his name alive in the village.

“I am grateful for your unwavering love,” Wakabiu told them. “I am a free man today because you never abandoned me.”

Daniel Mugo, who accompanied him from Mwea GK Prison upon his release, described the reunion as deeply moving. “This shows the power of family. No matter how long it takes, home is home,” he said.

Now back in Ndaba village near Kagio town, Wakabiu faces the difficult task of rebuilding his life at 60 — an age when many are slowing down, not starting over. Yet those close to him say they are ready to help him regain his footing.

As he settles into his new chapter, Wakabiu says he hopes his experience will serve as a lesson to others.

“If you have a dispute with someone, talk it out. Let us not rush to destroy each other’s lives,” he urged. “I have lost 20 years. Let us live in peace.”

For his family, however, the focus is not on the years lost — but on the fact that he is finally home.