The study shows majority of the convicts awaiting a date with the hangman in Kenya are from the lowest socioeconomic strata and are not necessarily the worst offenders.
A total of 671 death row convicts distributed across 12 prisons in the country took part in the survey. Ninety-five per cent of them were men and had been on the death row for an average of four years and two months. Most of them were aged between 30 and 49.
The survey was conducted by researchers from London in partnership with the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights and funded by the European Union.
The report, ‘Living with Death Sentence in Kenya: Prisoners’ experience of crime, punishment and death row’ is produced in a survey conducted by The Death Penalty Project with support of researchers from University of Oxford and Kenya National Commission on Human Rights.
In terms of economic occupation, 45 per cent of the convicts had no meaningful day jobs and depended on menial engagements as source of income.
Fifty-six per cent of the convicts were found guilty in robbery with violence offences, while 41 per cent are murder convicts.
It also showed that majority had reached Class 4 or, at most, Class 8 in the schooling and hence cannot speak or read English, which is the language of the law in most cases. The spoke Kiswahili but are most comfortable in their ethnic language.
Researchers said this language and education barrier exposed them to high chance of conviction when they were suspects as they could not understand the law or express themselves in their defence.
In terms of the ethnic extraction of the convicts, the report shows majority speak Kikuyu as their primary language, followed by Luhya and Luo consecutively. Kalenjin and Turkana follow closely. Other primary languages indicated include Giriama, Bukusu, Somali, Samburu, Pokoto, Meru, Kisii, Marakwet and Maasai, among others.
The report also said most of the convicts who participated had a history of alcohol and bhang exposure in their lives.
“[A total of] 43 per cent had been relying on alcohol and 32 per cent had a history of alcohol or substance misuse [which is higher than national average]. [They also] had reported rates of cannabis user were higher than those reported across the country,” it said.
Some 15 per cent of the convicts interviewed also said they had been experiencing mental health problems. Researchers said the mental health figures are higher than that which can be observed in general population.
In terms of knowledge of the law, the report depicts the convicts as not knowing what their rights were at the time of trial. In fact, a majority of 95 per cent of the robbery with violence convicts and 86 per cent of the murder convicts did not know at the time when they committed their offence that their punishment would be death upon conviction.
Majority of the murder convicts cited extreme emotional outburst and anger as the main reason why their killed their victims. Other cited provocation and self-defence.
Interestingly, 85 per cent of the convicts interviewed thought that it was unlikely or very unlikely that they would be caught or be arrested after committing their capital offences.
Forty-six per cent of convicts were not worried about the consequences of the actions, including imprisonment. Only 15 per cent hesitated and considered likelihood of going to jail before killing or robbing using violence, but went ahead anyway.
Further, in faulting their process that led to their conviction, the convicts told researchers that at the time of interrogation before being arraigned in court, 49 per cent were not told about their rights to be silent, 53 per cent not given a chance to speak to an advocate, 50 per cent felt coerced to confess to their alleged offences and 29 per cent claimed their families had been asked to give bribes in return for their freedom.
The data also show that 47 per cent were subjected to psychological distress during the interrogation, while 37 per cent claimed they were subjected to physical abuse.
A further 23 per cent claimed they were not given a medical attention when they needed it during interrogation, while 35 per cent were not given breaks in between the processes.
