A rights lobby on Monday escalated a push to have the death penalty scrapped from Kenyan law books by hosting a regional conference on the subject.
The International Commission of Jurists Kenya brought together experts and lawyers from DRC, Cameroon, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania in Nairobi to share perspectives on the death penalty.
Programme officer Joanne Mutonga said the death penalty is excessively punitive and not rehabilitative.
It closes any avenue the convicted offenders may have to explore new chances in life, she said.
“ICJ Kenya is committed to continue with the fight for abolition of the death penalty [in the country]. Leveraging on the partnerships in the justice sector, and more importantly with national and local assemblies,” she said.
“There is no justice in killing in the name of justice”.
The last time a convict was hanged in Kenya was in 1987. The victims were 1982 attempted coup plotters.
Since then, death sentences are mostly commuted to a lifetime in jail.
According to the lobby, thousands of inmates are on death row in Kenyan jails, 597 being women.
The Supreme Court in 2018, in a case brought by the ICJ and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, held that “the mandatory nature of the death sentences was inconsistent with the 2010 Constitution."
But the President retains the discretion to order the hanging of death row inmates at any time.
Former KNCHR commissioner Jedidah Waruhiu said amending the law to expressly deny the President the discretion would remove the uncertainty the death row convicts go through.
She said it would also uphold the sanctity of life and "enable those going through the criminal justice system to have dignity and respect for their lives".
The former commissioner said the initiative needed a multi-pronged approach to generate substantive support among members of the public, a move she said would push leaders to act.
She said the dialogue framework that brings together players from different countries would enrich the initiative as it "ensures experience sharing, collective troubleshooting and all-encompassing reform."
The push to deal a blow to the death penalty, she said, was also aimed at widening the conversation to ensure comprehensive reforms in the sector starting with the point of arrest, handling of evidence, arraignment, prosecution and determination of the case.
