Listen to This Article Enhance your reading experience by listening to this article.

It was joy and a sigh of relief for Philip Bor who was serving a 35 year  sentence years in prison in connection with murder  after he was set free by Eldoret High Court following his successful appeal.

Bor was found guilty of murder but insane on July 7, 1989 while at the age of 18 by the then late Justice Daniel Aganyanya over the killing of his neigbour using a blunt object.

 Bor who was resting in his bedroom had accused the deceased of disturbing his sleep by waking him up on the fateful day of February 26, 1988 at Lessos area in Nandi County.

Presiding Judge Reuben Nyakundi issued a release order yesterday that saw Bor, now aged 54 walk out of Eldoret GK remand prison after serving the sentence for almost the entire period of his youthful life behind bars.

He has a plan to marry after settling down.

“I haven’t given up in life. I hope to marry in the near future and continue serving God together with my wife,” said an elated Bor.

The Judge freed him following a mental assessment report from Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital where Bor had been taken on his orders last week confirmed that he was now mentally fit.

He argued that the assessment report will help the court to determine a possibility of the petitioner’s right to access health rights to be guaranteed by the state.

This was after Bor’s successful petition challenging his imprisonment courtesy of the 2010 constitution.

Through his lawyer Oscah Oduor from the Centre for Legal Support and Inmate Rehabilitation ( CLESIR ), Bor filed a petition challenging his jail last year.

Oduor had told the court that according to constitution 2010, it is illegal to jail someone who is mentally unfit hence his client deserves to be freed upon implementation of the Kenya Constitution 2010.

Bor has been serving indefinitely at the mercy of the presidential power of mercy.

While challenging the sentence, Bor through his lawyer recounted that on February 26, 1988, he had been recouping from a severe case of cerebral malaria for which he had obtained treatment.

He recalled that while resting and in deep sleep in his bedroom, a neighbor woke him from his slumber and, being startled, he hit him with a blunt object which later succumbed to the injuries.

Following the incident, he was arrested by the police attached to the directorate of criminal investigations department and taken to Lessos police station where he was quizzed by the sleuths.

Bor stated that because of his state of mind, he was not able to respond to the issues being put to him adequately by the investigating officers.