Love, land, and a lie: How James Muchiri’s kind heart bought him 14 years in prison

James Muchiri's journey to the Coast began with hope and opportunity. In 2009, at 27 years old, he traveled to Mombasa for a construction job, planning to stay for three years. Like many young men seeking fortune, he had heard stories about the Coastal region that made him cautious about settling down and getting married there.

Speaking on Citizen TV’s ‘Shajara na Lulu’ show on Friday, Muchiri narrated how one day, while going to the shop, he encountered a woman who told him she was hungry and had no money to buy food.

Out of goodwill, he offered her the little he had. During their conversation, she mentioned that she was also looking for someone to marry. Muchiri shared his desire to find a wife but expressed his hesitation due to stories he'd heard about the Coast.

"People just need to understand each other," Muchiri recalls agreeing when she objected to his concerns.

The woman had two children - one aged 7 and another aged 10. Muchiri took them to his servant's quarters and became their guardian, keeping his parents unaware of his new responsibilities.

After living together for some time, he noticed that the children needed to go to school. When he suggested this, the woman said she didn't have the strength or money for their education.

"Now you have strength, and that strength is me," Muchiri told her, taking responsibility for the children's basic needs and education while continuing his caretaker job.

For six years, they lived together peacefully, Muchiri describing the woman as a good person who showed him no ill will during this period. They had a daughter together, whom they named after his mother, bringing the total number of children to three. Muchiri’s parents, however, remained unaware of this developing family situation.

When Muchiri eventually decided to formalize his relationship and inform his parents, he first spoke to his sister, who assured him that there would be no problem and advised him to bring the family home for introduction.

At Kona Jara in Likoni, Muchiri obtained a title deed for land he had purchased. When registering the next of kin on the title deed, he listed only her name due to his cultural beliefs.

"I wish I hadn't done that," he says now, in hindsight, with regret.

When he explained to his wife that, according to Kikuyu customs, they follow certain traditions and that he would register the other children when he purchases more land or property, everything began to unravel.

His wife questioned why he hadn't registered all the children since they were all his responsibility. That's when her behavior started to change dramatically. She began frequenting clubs, leaving the children behind and returning home at 2am, demanding to be let in.

"She would come to the house at midnight and knock on the door for me to open for her," Muchiri recalls, "She used to be very drunk."

When she came home intoxicated, he would retire to the bedroom, leaving her to lounge on the couch.

The situation became so unbearable that Muchiri began having suicidal thoughts of killing his wife, the children, and himself.

“One day while I was at work, she came asking for shopping money and I suggested she get it from whoever she had been with, the confrontation reached a breaking point,” he narrated.

She retorted: "Now you're acting up too much, you don't know me but you will know me!"

Muchiri responded that she could do whatever she wanted. That evening, she took all three children to her aunt's house, telling him that she wanted to deal with him alone. When he suggested she should also leave, she insisted the house was hers.

The situation deteriorated further in June 2016 when she started getting money from her ‘chama,’ drinking excessively, and neglecting all household duties.

In 2017, he noticed that his wife and her aunt were planning to take everything from the house, including his clothes. On the Sunday of June 22nd, they claimed to be going to church with the children, but instead went to the aunt's house to execute their plan.

They sent people to tell Muchiri that the chief had called an emergency meeting for all cottage caretakers. Despite his reluctance, they insisted everyone had to attend.

"I told them I couldn't go, but they forced me, asking how many minutes it would take," he recalls.

He left wearing only slippers and shorts, expecting a brief meeting.

"Where the meeting was supposed to be, I didn't find people. We were told to go get chairs, and it turns out the place we were getting chairs from was the aunt's house of this woman I had married," Muchiri discovered.

When he arrived. about five elderly men, women, and many children were present. There was also a 13-year-old girl crying in the kitchen.

The aunt began making accusations: "Now you're asking what we've done to the child, why don't you tell them what you've done to this child right now. Didn't you come here and defile this child and left to go home?" Muchiri recalls the allegations levelled at him.

When he asked what she was talking about, they insisted that he knew what he had done to the child. An elderly man slapped Muchiri, causing him to fall.

Alone at the Coast with no one to defend him, Muchiri realized his wife had orchestrated everything perfectly. The 13-year-old girl had been coached to accuse him of inappropriate conduct and cry on cue.

"Now what should I do? I'm alone at the Coast, I have no one. No one can defend me there, I'm all alone," Muchiri recalls his helplessness.

He was taken to Ukunda Police Station without being given a chance to explain himself.

At the station, officers began beating him severely without asking questions.

"When I was put in the police station, officers came and started attacking me, they didn't even want to know where they were hitting...I was beaten until I started bleeding from the nose, ears, and even mouth," Muchiri narrates.

The assault continued until the OCS intervened, ordering Muchiri to be locked up without medical treatment. One officer kicked him near the spine - an injury that still causes him pain today.

"My fellow inmates started giving me first aid after I was taken inside. I was a mason, but now I can't do that job," he says, explaining how the injury ended his masonry career.

After four days in custody, following his arrest on Sunday, Muchiri was taken to court on Wednesday. Unable to sit due to his injuries, he had to lie down.

When the judge asked why he was brought to court in such condition, Muchiri managed to speak up: "Your honour, the way I am here, I was beaten very badly."

The Judge came down to examine him personally and ordered him to be taken to the hospital. After being turned away from the general hospital, he was treated at the Makadara Hospital in town, where he spent a month recovering.

Without access to a phone to contact his parents, Muchiri had no legal representation. During the trial, his wife and children didn't appear - only the aunt, her child, and six other children who had been coached on what to say testified against him.

When Muchiri tried to question the children, they gave answers opposite to the truth.

"I told the judge that all this was planned, it was orchestrated, and because of my property, it has even been taken," he says.

His please, however, fell on deaf ears as the judge sentenced him to 20 years.

He later filed an appeal and, on December 4, 2020, his case was heard online due to COVID-19 restrictions. After two years of appeals process, the judge reviewed his case.

"I thank the Almighty God because that judge who took my case said this case of mine shouldn't have reached here," he recalls.

The judge reduced his sentence by 10 years from the original 20, leaving him with 3 years to serve, which he completed despite believing in his innocence.

Upon release, Muchiri’s health was poor. He contacted his brother and cousin, who took him home to Murang'a. His father immediately saw his condition and arranged for hospitalization.

"I was taken to Murang'a General. He (his father) sold about 3 goats to get money to treat me," he narrates.

While his health has improved, he still cannot do heavy work due to his back injury.

When asked about remarrying, Muchiri is clear about his feelings: "I don't think I'll get another wife. I hate them (women), I won't hide it."

Despite the betrayal and suffering, Muchiri has found a way to forgive: "I forgave her, and I forgave her in my heart. But wherever we meet, please let's pass each other like people who don't know each other."

He concluded his story with a plea for help and urged people to show more humanity to one another.