Man acquitted in incest case

The Kenyan High Court has acquitted a young man accused of having sex with his paternal cousin in a case that has addressed the law on incest. In 2014, Magistrate Monica Nafula found the man guilty of having sexual intercourse with a 16-year-old relative and jailed him for 10 years. The Nation reports that his lawyer appealed the ruling, claiming that the trial court erred in convicting his client for incest. Justice James Makau agreed, saying ‘the prosecution failed to prove that the appellant is related to the complainant within the prohibited relationship enumerated under Section 20 (1) and 22 (1) of the Sexual Offences Act’. The Act lists uncles, nephews, step-brothers and sisters and adopted brothers as those who can be found guilty of incest.