High Court Upholds Six-Year Jail Term for Former Rugby Player Alex Olaba

The High Court has upheld the conviction and six-year prison sentence of former Kenya Sevens rugby player Alex Olaba for plotting to kill a witness in a criminal case.

Justice Margaret Muigai delivered the ruling on Thursday, rejecting Olaba’s appeal and confirming that the trial court had correctly applied the law. The judge found that the evidence presented, including covert recordings and a cash payment to an undercover officer posing as a hitman, proved Olaba’s plan to obstruct justice through violence.

According to the court, Olaba had tried to hire intermediaries to eliminate a key witness ahead of a retrial in a 2018 gang-rape case involving him and former teammate Frank Wanyama. The plot was uncovered when a police officer, acting as a contract killer, recorded the discussions and received a Sh10,000 down payment, with a further Sh100,000 promised after the murder. Justice Muigai said the conspiracy was deliberate and supported by multiple witnesses, including the undercover officer.

“The trial magistrate properly considered the totality of the evidence and the seriousness of the offence,” the judge said, adding that the sentence, ordered to run concurrently across all counts, was appropriate and lawful. Olaba’s lawyers had argued that the conviction was flawed because the complainant, identified in court records as K.A., did not testify, and that the prosecution’s case contained inconsistencies. 

They also claimed the court relied on a general victim impact statement and failed to question the credibility of prosecution witnesses. However, the High Court dismissed these claims, ruling that the conviction was based on strong, independent evidence that did not depend on the complainant’s direct testimony.

The appeal outcome extends a long-running legal process that began in 2018, when Olaba and Wanyama were convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison for gang-raping K.A. That conviction was later overturned by the High Court, which ordered a retrial due to procedural errors. It was during the period before this retrial that Olaba attempted to interfere with the case by targeting the key witness.

Alongside the six-year term for threatening to kill the witness, Olaba received a two-year sentence for conspiracy to defeat justice. Both terms will run concurrently. The retrial in the rape case is scheduled to begin on 9 February 2026, before Senior Principal Magistrate Rose Ndombi at the Milimani Law Courts.

At a recent court mention, Olaba’s defence team requested that he be taken to hospital for medical treatment, a request that was not opposed by the prosecution.