Kenya
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Abolitionist de facto
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · Murder, treason and armed robbery are capital crimes
- News items in the archive
- 328
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Kenya is classified as Abolitionist de facto in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 328 news items on Kenya, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- JULY 3, 2001KenyaDEATH PENALTY
A police inspector and his lover were sentenced to...
A police inspector and his lover were sentenced to death by hanging for the murder of the woman's husband
- JULY 1, 2001KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Kenyan President Daniel Arap Moi demanded the death...
Kenyan President Daniel Arap Moi demanded the death penalty for people who knowingly infect others with HIV/AIDS, to deter men from passing the disease to vulnerable younger women
- JUNE 15, 2001KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Senior Resident Magistrate Kiare Waweru sentenced Evans...
Senior Resident Magistrate Kiare Waweru sentenced Evans Mochache for robbing a child of over 6,000 shillings with the use of a knife
- JUNE 15, 2001KenyaDEATH PENALTY
According to a report released by the standing committee...
According to a report released by the standing committee on human rights the six inmates found dead at Kig'ong'o Prison in September 2000 were murdered by prison guards
- MAY 29, 2001KenyaDEATH PENALTY
The European Union said it wanted to see concrete action...
The European Union said it wanted to see concrete action on political and economic reforms as key steps in enhancing relations with the Kenyan government
- MAY 4, 2001KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Kenyan opposition MP Maina Kamanda was charged with treason
Kenyan opposition MP Maina Kamanda was charged with treason
- APRIL 25, 2001KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Kenya voted against the resolution on the death penalty...
Kenya voted against the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights on April 25, 2001 (2001/68)
- MARCH 29, 2001KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Two Tanzanians accused of robbing 29 American tourists...
Two Tanzanians accused of robbing 29 American tourists in Kenya's Masai Mara game park were sentenced to hang after pleading guilty to the charges
- MARCH 21, 2001KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Joan Chebichii Sawe, the widow of former permanent...
Joan Chebichii Sawe, the widow of former permanent secretary Alexander Sawe has filed a notice of appeal in the High Court challenging the death sentence handed to her last on March 17
- FEBRUARY 13, 2001KenyaDEATH PENALTY
John Otieno Odhiambo, 20, Joseph Kibaki and David Ochieng,...
John Otieno Odhiambo, 20, Joseph Kibaki and David Ochieng, both aged 19, were sentenced to death for raping a woman on October 11, 1999, at the Baba Dogo bus terminus in Nairobi, and robbed her of Sh2,500
- JANUARY 1, 2001KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Murder, treason and armed robbery are capital crimes
Murder, treason and armed robbery are capital crimes
- OCTOBER 25, 2000KenyaDEATH PENALTY
A motion, moved by opposition Democratic Party MP shadow...
A motion, moved by opposition Democratic Party MP shadow attorney-general Kiraitu Murungi, that urged the government to introduce the necessary legislation to abolish capital punishment in Kenya was defeated in Parliament by an overwhelming majority vote
- SEPTEMBER 18, 2000KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Human rights activists questioned whether the inmates...
Human rights activists questioned whether the inmates were trying to escape in the first place after revelations that the guards on duty had been drinking
- SEPTEMBER 13, 2000KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Pathologists examining the bodies of the six death...
Pathologists examining the bodies of the six death row convicts killed in the bungled escape attempt found an appalling catalogue of injuries, none resembling bullet wounds
- SEPTEMBER 4, 2000KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Six death row inmates were killed, at the King'ongo...
Six death row inmates were killed, at the King'ongo prison in Nyeri, during a failed escape attempt in which they had stripped naked and used their prison uniforms as a rope to scale a 25ft wall
- JUNE 12, 2000KenyaDEATH PENALTY
21 university students were charged with robbery with...
21 university students were charged with robbery with violence, an offence which carries the death penalty as a maximum sentence, following riots at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology
- JUNE 8, 2000KenyaDEATH PENALTY
A man who appealed against his eight-year prison sentence...
A man who appealed against his eight-year prison sentence for robbery was instead given a death sentence
- MAY 17, 2000KenyaDEATH PENALTY
An elite Kenyan police squad set up to fight violent...
An elite Kenyan police squad set up to fight violent crime was disbanded after its officers were implicated in car theft, robbery, torture and execution
- APRIL 18, 2000KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Attorney-General Amos Wako said he will refer treason...
Attorney-General Amos Wako said he will refer treason charges against the National Convention Executive Council (NCEC) officials if they form a parallel government
- JANUARY 30, 2000KenyaDEATH PENALTY
The Catholic Church asked the government to abolish...
The Catholic Church asked the government to abolish the death penalty
- JANUARY 1, 2000KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Murder, treason and armed robbery are capital crimes
Murder, treason and armed robbery are capital crimes
- DECEMBER 21, 1999KenyaDEATH PENALTY
On December 21, Boniface Lukoye, a 23-year-old orphan,...
On December 21, Boniface Lukoye, a 23-year-old orphan, was sentenced to death by Mombasa senior resident Magistrate Lydia Achode after he pleaded guilty to the offense he committed with 2 others barely 24 hours earlier
- DECEMBER 11, 1999KenyaDEATH PENALTY
On December 11, 5 suspects - Joseph Nyamu Kamotho,...
On December 11, 5 suspects - Joseph Nyamu Kamotho, Bernard Mwngi Maina, Stephen Mwangi Gathua, Emmanuel Kamunya, Paul Kariuki Ngothi - who had been charged with robbery with violence and sentenced to death by the Nyahururu Principal Magistrate W
- SEPTEMBER 18, 1999KenyaDEATH PENALTY
On September 18, at the High Court, Judge Daniel Aganyanya...
On September 18, at the High Court, Judge Daniel Aganyanya handed down his decision on Simon Ole Makallah, 49, chief warden of the popular Masai Mara Game Reserve at the time of the crime
- SEPTEMBER 1, 1999KenyaDEATH PENALTY
In September, during the launch of the University of...
In September, during the launch of the University of Nairobi Students Association of Legal Aid and Research (Salar), at the Faculty of Law campus in Parklands, while discussing legal aid in the country and if advocates take up cases on pro bono basis whic
- AUGUST 2, 1999KenyaDEATH PENALTY
On August 2, Court of Appeal Judges R
On August 2, Court of Appeal Judges R
- JULY 22, 1999KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Kenya signed the letter, dated 22 July 1999, addressed...
Kenya signed the letter, dated 22 July 1999, addressed to the President of the Economic and Social Council, in which the retentionist countries dissociated from the Commission on Human Rights resolution 1999/61 on the question of the death penalty
- JANUARY 1, 1999KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Murder, treason and armed robbery are capital crimes
Murder, treason and armed robbery are capital crimes