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
MARCH 3, 2017KenyaDEATH PENALTYKENYA: MOMBASA MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER GIRL'S RAPE, MURDER
The Court of Appeal confirmed the death sentence imposed on a chef by the Mombasa High Court on
FEBRUARY 1, 2017KenyaDEATH PENALTYKENYA: MAN TO HANG FOR BURNING WIFE TO DEATH IN NAIROBI
A man who doused his wife with paraffin before setting her ablaze has been sentenced to death in Kenya.
JANUARY 31, 2017KenyaDEATH PENALTYKENYA: NAKURU COUSINS TO HANG FOR SH300 ROBBERY WITH VIOLENCE
Two cousins who violently robbed an armed police officer of Sh300 will face the death penalty after the
- JANUARY 1, 2017KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Murder, treason and armed robbery are capital crimes.
Murder, treason and armed robbery are capital crimes.
- NOVEMBER 17, 2016KenyaDEATH PENALTY
KENYA URGED TO SET PACE FOR REGION BY ABOLISHING DEATH PENALTY
Kenya has been asked to consider abolishing the death penalty since it is not compatible with the
- OCTOBER 24, 2016KenyaDEATH PENALTY
KENYA: PRESIDENT KENYATTA SPARES 2,747 DEATH ROW CONVICTS FROM HANGMAN’S NOOSE
President Uhuru Kenyatta has signed commutation documents commuting all death sentences into life jail terms.
OCTOBER 10, 2016KenyaDEATH PENALTYKENYA: WOMAN WHO SOLD TOXIC DRINK THAT CAUSED DEATH OF 8 SENTENCED TO HANG
A woman who was charged with selling illicit liquor that caused the death of eight people in Ruiru, five years ago has been sentenced to death.
- OCTOBER 3, 2016KenyaDEATH PENALTY
KENYA: TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR ROBBERY WITH VIOLENCE IN NAIVASHA
Two men were sentenced to death in Naivasha after being found guilty of robbery with violence.
SEPTEMBER 24, 2016KenyaDEATH PENALTYKENYA: HIGH COURT FINDS MANDATORY DEATH SENTENCE UNCONSTITUTIONAL
The High Court in Kenya has ruled that the mandatory death sentence in relation to capital offence is unconstitutional.
JULY 1, 2016KenyaDEATH PENALTYKENYA: MAN TO HANG FOR BASHING GIRL'S HEAD ON TREE STUMP
A casual labourer has been sentenced to hang for the murder of a five-year-old girl by bashing her head into a tree stump.
- APRIL 6, 2016KenyaDEATH PENALTY
KENYA: KERUGOYA COURT SENTENCES TWO ORPHANS TO HANG FOR STEALING CELLPHONE
Two orphans have been sentenced to death by a Kerugoya court after they were convicted of robbery with
- MARCH 3, 2016KenyaDEATH PENALTY
KENYA: TOBIKO BACKS BID TO SCRAP MANDATORY DEATH PENALTY
Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko has thrown his weight behind an application seeking to
- JANUARY 27, 2016KenyaDEATH PENALTY
KENYA: WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
A Kenyan woman who strangled her two-year-old daughter to death after an overnight prayer session at a
- JANUARY 22, 2016KenyaDEATH PENALTY
KENYA: FOUR SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER MINOR’S MURDER
Four people have been sentenced to death for the murder of an eight-year-old girl in Nairobi’s Kariobangi
- JANUARY 1, 2016KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Murder, treason and armed robbery are capital crimes.
Murder, treason and armed robbery are capital crimes.
SEPTEMBER 26, 2015KenyaDEATH PENALTYKENYA: FOUR WHO SHOT AND KILLED UHURU KIN SENTENCED TO DEATH
Four men who shot and killed President Uhuru Kenyatta’s relative have been sentenced to death.
- SEPTEMBER 16, 2015KenyaDEATH PENALTY
KENYA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
A man who killed a relative of Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua during a robbery in Nairobi has been
SEPTEMBER 10, 2015Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: KENYAN GIRL SENTENCED TO HANG
A group of over 80 girls who were being detained at a deportation center in Saudi Arabia have arrived back in Kenya.
JULY 7, 2015KenyaDEATH PENALTYKENYA: MUSLIM CONVERT TO HANG FOR MASS MURDER
A former Mungiki member who converted to Islam and trained with Al Shabaab has been sentenced to
- JULY 2, 2015KenyaDEATH PENALTY
KENYA: VIOLENT ROBBERS GET THE DEATH SENTENCE
Two men were sentenced to death in Kenya for robbery with violence.
- JUNE 16, 2015KenyaDEATH PENALTY
KENYA: MP PROPOSES BILLS TO ABOLISH DEATH PENALTY
a MP presented two draft Bills whose enactment would result in the repeal of the death sentence from
- MAY 4, 2015KenyaDEATH PENALTY
KENYA: TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR ROBBERY WITH VIOLENCE
Two men were sentenced to death by hanging in Kenya after being found guilty of murder and robbery with
- JANUARY 23, 2015KenyaDEATH PENALTY
KENYA: MAN SENTENCED TO HANG FOR MURDERING COUPLE
A Nakuru court sentenced to death a man accused of killing a couple that owned a private school in
- JANUARY 1, 2015KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Murder, treason and armed robbery are capital crimes.
Murder, treason and armed robbery are capital crimes.
NOVEMBER 6, 2014KenyaDEATH PENALTYKENYA: DEATH SENTENCE FOR KILLERS OF ITALIAN BISHOP
A Kenyan Roman Catholic priest and four others were sentenced to death by a court in Nairobi for
NOVEMBER 4, 2014KenyaDEATH PENALTYKENYA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DEFILING MINOR
A 34 year-old man has been sentenced to death in Kenya after he was found guilty of defiling a six year-old
- OCTOBER 9, 2014KenyaDEATH PENALTY
KENYA: TWO HERDSMEN SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER KILLING OF 40 POLICE OFFICERS IN BARAGOI
A Maralal court has sentenced two herdsmen to death over the killing of 40 police officers in Baragoi in
- SEPTEMBER 2, 2014KenyaDEATH PENALTY
KENYA: FOUR SENTENCED TO DEATH IN NYAHURURU
In Kenya, a Nyahururu court handed four young men a death penalty for robbery with violence.
AUGUST 7, 2014KenyaDEATH PENALTYKENYA: AL-SHABAAB SUSPECT TO BE EXTRADITED TO SOMALIA
Kenya has agreed to Somalia's request to extradite a Somali citizen believed to be senior al-Shabaab
JUNE 29, 2014KenyaDEATH PENALTYKENYA: 6,000 CONVICTS AWAITING DEATH
With 6,000 death row convicts, Kenya has the fourth largest death row population in the world. In the last