Wafula v. Republic

The appellant was charged and convicted of raping the complainant, a girl of 15 years, with his friend.  The appellant appealed on four grounds: (1) that the complainant was so young that the court needed to have first satisfied itself that the complainant possessed sufficient intelligence to justify the reception of her evidence, (2) that the court convicted him solely based on the testimony of one witness, (3) that the sentence was manifestly harsh and unfair, and (4) that the prosecution in this case failed to adhere to the requirement that a charge of rape must contain the words "unlawful" and "without consent". The Court dismissed the first three grounds, stating that 15 years did not make the complainant too young to give uncorroborated evidence, as would otherwise be required in sexual offenses.  However, the Court quashed the conviction because the rape charge did not contain the words "unlawful" and "without consent," which are necessary to any charge of rape.