NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 14 – A Court of Appeal Judge is among jurists who have added their voice for the total abolition of the death penalty in Kenya, emphasizing its ineffectiveness as a deterrent to crime and its contradiction to human rights standards.
Speaking during the commemoration of the World Day Against the Death Penalty, Justice John Mativo noted the growing global trend toward its abolition.
He noted that many countries no longer implement the death penalty, even if it remains on their law books.
“It is quite inhuman, degrading and irreversible. Most countries in the world have already abolished it and even the ones which have it in the law books people are sentenced to death, but they are not executed so you find there is a reluctance to execute them,” Mativo stated.
He pointed out that Kenya’s own Supreme Court had made a landmark decision in 2017 to outlaw the mandatory death sentence for murder, offering those convicted a chance for resentencing.
However, Mativo noted that the decision does not apply to those of convicted of the offence of robbery with violence.
“So, we have a category of offenders who are now being told we cannot help you, you have to go suffer death because the law stands as it is,” he said.
Mativo expressed hope that the law would be amended to eliminate the death penalty altogether.
He also highlighted the reluctance of Kenyan presidents to sign death warrants, with those sentenced to death often ending up in prison for life instead.
“That is why we are saying then give them definite jail terms instead of sentencing them to a situation where they are waiting for death which is not forthcoming and, in any event, we have said death is cruel its inhuman.”
Despite Kenya’s moratorium on executions since 1987, advocates are pushing for the country to completely remove the death penalty from its laws.
Human rights groups and international partners are also challenging the government to take decisive steps towards a more rehabilitative and humane justice system.
Demas Kiprono, Executive Director of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) Kenya, highlighted that 165 individuals remain on death row, with three of them being women.
Kiprono echoed Mativo’s sentiments urging the government to move towards total abolition of the death penalty.
“Kenya as a progressive country with a constitution that upholds the right to life, freedom from torture should move towards that realization that death penalty does not offer safety to anyone, it is not a deterrent to crime so that we move towards where the world is going,” he said.
Kiprono further emphasized the need for a justice system that focuses on rehabilitation rather than revenge.
“We have a higher moral ground and say that we will seek to ensure that this person is rehabilitated. If they can get back to the society let them do that, if not let us find other alternatives to the Death Sentence,” he added.
Julie Wayua Matheka, Programme Manager at ICJ Kenya, called for the government to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which calls for the abolition of the death penalty.
“Kenya has now taken a seat at the human rights council and we hope that we can then progress and push for laws that are actually in tandem with the human rights treaties and ensure that Kenya takes its place as forthcoming countries that are pushing for human rights laws to be really to the gold standard,” she said,
Currently, the Penal Code (Amendment) which was presented by the then Leader of the Minority Party Opiyo Wandayi has been adopted by the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee in the National Assembly.
The proposed law seeks to amend the Penal Code Cap 63, specifically sections 40, 60, 204, 296 and 297, by deleting the word ‘death’ where it appears and substituting it with ‘life imprisonment.’
Matheka noted that she looks forward for the laws being debated.
She also stressed the importance of public participation in the debate surrounding the death penalty, urging Kenyans to critically examine whether it serves its intended purpose.
Matheka highlighted social and economic issues that often lead people to death row, adding that ICJ Kenya has developed a book examining the impact of the death penalty on women and families, particularly in relation to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).
France’s Ambassador to Kenya, Arnaud Suquet, also voiced strong support for Kenya’s abolition efforts.
He noted that France abolished the death penalty 40 years ago, adding that the European Union is a death penalty-free zone.
The French envoy pointed out that the EU bloc believes that the death penalty abolition debate is an important issue in many ways including in terms of foreign policy,
“We are all united thinking that abolishing death penalty is first a moral imperative but also it is a question of efficiency,” he said.
He expressed optimism that Kenya could make progress in this area by the time France hosts the World Congress Against the Death Penalty in 2026.
If successful, Kenya will join twenty-six other African states, including Cape Verde, Chad, Sierra Leone, Central African Republic, Ghana and Zambia, which abolished the death penalty in law.
Source: capitalfm
