- Amos Simiyu loaned his friend KSh 86,000, a kind act that would change the course of his life forever
- The betrayal that followed regarding the money cost him his freedom, dignity, and a decade of his life
- Tortured into confessing a crime he didn’t commit, he clung to prayer until a miracle walked into his prison cell
- What the High Court later revealed will leave you heartbroken and furious
For Amos Simiyu, a simple act of kindness turned into a decade-long nightmare that robbed him of freedom, dignity, and time he will never recover.
In 2017, life had already dealt Simiyu a devastating blow. He had lost his entire family during the brutal post-election violence, their lives cut short when their home was set ablaze.
The grief was unbearable, but he held onto his faith, trying to rebuild in the quiet town of Bisil, Kajiado County.
Amid his solitude, Simiyu extended a helping hand to a friend in need. He loaned him KSh 86,000, a substantial amount for a man still picking up the pieces of his life.
But when the time came for repayment, the friend turned hostile.
“He not only refused to pay me back but accused me of threatening him,” Simiyu recalls with a hollow gaze.
His world turned upside down the day police officers arrived at his door. They carried an ID card that didn’t belong to him and claimed he had sent a threatening message to the same friend.
Confused, Simiyu tried to explain, but his words fell on deaf ears. He was arrested on charges of threatening to kill and impersonation.
Thrown into remand, he endured conditions that he describes as “inhuman and torturous.” Isolated and terrified, he broke down under pressure.
“The torture became too much. I was broken. I thought if I admitted, they would let me go and give me a light sentence,” he says.
But the justice system was not so forgiving. Expecting perhaps a year behind bars, Simiyu was handed a 20-year sentence.
“I felt like my soul left my body,” he says quietly. With no lawyer, no resources, and no family left to turn to, he was forgotten in the system.
Years passed in silence and suffering. Yet, in the darkness of prison, Simiyu clung to hope through prayer.
“I prayed every day for a miracle. That someone, somewhere would listen,” he says.
That miracle came in the form of a police officer—one of the few who listened to his story and believed him.
Touched by Simiyu’s ordeal, the officer offered to help him file an appeal, for free.
When Simiyu was finally brought before the High Court in Kajiado, the judge reviewed the case and made a shocking discovery: he was only meant to serve three years.
By then, Simiyu had already spent over ten years behind bars.
He walked out of prison a free man, but not without scars, emotional, psychological, and spiritual.
Now back in society, Simiyu is trying to rebuild once again, this time from the ashes of injustice.
“I forgave my friend. I had to,” he says. “But I hope one day the system learns to listen. Because there are so many like me, still locked up, praying for someone to believe them.”