5 Reasons Ex-Shujaa Star Alex Olaba Lost Appeal Against Six-Year Jail Term Amid Rape Charges

Disgraced former Kenya Sevens rugby star Alex Olaba has suffered another major legal setback after the High Court upheld his six-year jail term for attempting to kill a key witness in a gang-rape case against him and former teammate Frank Wanyama.

Justice Margaret Muigai dismissed the former Strathmore Leos star’s appeal, ruling that the lower court had properly applied the law and delivered a fair verdict. Here are five key reasons why Olaba’s appeal collapsed a nd what this means for his ongoing legal battles.

Justice Muigai ruled that the prosecution presented solid evidence linking Olaba to a conspiracy to murder a key witness in the 2018 gang-rape case as per Daily Nation.

The case included recorded phone conversations and a Sh10,000 down payment allegedly made to a man Olaba believed to be a hitman. The recordings further revealed a promise to pay Sh100,000 upon completion of the killing.

“The conspiracy to commit murder was proven through recorded conversations and the down payment,” the judge noted, adding that the evidence showed clear intent.

In a dramatic twist, the so-called hitman turned out to be an undercover police officer. The officer, posing as a contract killer, recorded incriminating conversations that later became key evidence in court. Justice Muigai described the officer’s testimony as credible, saying it “spilled the beans” and confirmed the former Alliance High School student’s role in orchestrating the attempted hit.

Olaba had argued that the magistrate’s court failed to consider his defence and mitigation adequately. However, Justice Muigai rejected that claim, stating that the trial magistrate fully evaluated his submissions before delivering judgment.

“The sentence in all counts shall run concurrently and is fair,” she ruled, adding that the lower court’s process had met the standards of justice.

Olaba’s appeal rested on claims that the prosecution’s case was riddled with contradictions and unreliable witnesses. He also argued that no direct evidence showed how or when the alleged murder would be carried out.

However, the High Court disagreed, finding that his defence lacked credibility and that the prosecution’s evidence was consistent enough to sustain a conviction.

Justice Muigai concluded that Olaba’s appeal did not introduce any new facts or legal errors that could overturn the conviction. The judge emphasized that the trial magistrate had made a sound decision based on the evidence and law.

Olaba and Wanyama were previously convicted of gang-raping a woman in February 2018, a sentence later quashed by the High Court in 2020, which ordered a retrial.

Before that retrial could proceed, Olaba was arrested again for threatening to kill the key witness, leading to his six-year jail term — and an additional two years for defeating justice.

Olaba remains behind bars, with the retrial of the original gang-rape case set for February 9, 2026. In October 2025, Senior Principal Magistrate Rose Ndombi directed that he be escorted to hospital after his lawyer reported he was unwell.

For now, the once-celebrated rugby star remains in prison, with the High Court’s ruling marking yet another grim chapter in his dramatic fall from grace.