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
- FEBRUARY 22, 2005KenyaDEATH PENALTY
death-row convicts at the Kamiti Maximum Prison, Kenya...
death-row convicts at the Kamiti Maximum Prison, Kenya...
- JANUARY 25, 2005KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Kenyan national Lolwakenju Lengironi was sentenced to death
Kenyan national Lolwakenju Lengironi was sentenced to death
- OCTOBER 27, 2004KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Alleged beatings and worsening conditions have claimed...
Alleged beatings and worsening conditions have claimed the lives of at least 56 inmates in Meru prison in eastern Kenya since January, the Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU), a non-governmental watchdog, said
- OCTOBER 6, 2004KenyaDEATH PENALTY
It was revealed in a report submitted by the Kenyan...
It was revealed in a report submitted by the Kenyan government to the United Nation's Human Rights Committee that there are 1,900 prisoners on death row in the country, 200 of which had exhausted their attempts to have the sentence commuted to life
- AUGUST 9, 2004KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Ntonyiri MP Maoka Maore asked the police...
Ntonyiri MP Maoka Maore asked the police...
- AUGUST 6, 2004KenyaDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that more than 100 death row convicts...
It was reported that more than 100 death row convicts at the Kamiti Maximum Prison in Kenya were back on the streets following a landmark court ruling that they had been convicted by officers below the rank stipulated by the law
- AUGUST 6, 2004KenyaDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that more than 100 death row convicts...
It was reported that more than 100 death row convicts at the Kamiti Maximum Prison in Kenya were back on the streets following a landmark court ruling that they had been convicted by officers below the rank stipulated by the law
- JULY 25, 2004KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Ann Wangare Mungai, a woman convicted of murdered her...
Ann Wangare Mungai, a woman convicted of murdered her stepson and stashing his remains in a sack to conceal the act was sentenced to death by the High Court in Nakuru, Kenya
- JULY 7, 2004KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Indonesian prosecutors sought the death sentence for...
Indonesian prosecutors sought the death sentence for a Kenyan man charged with attempting to smuggle more than one kilogram of heroin into the country
- JUNE 4, 2004KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Paul Kutosi , a Ugandan who won an appeal against a...
Paul Kutosi , a Ugandan who won an appeal against a death sentence in Kenya petitioned a human rights body seeking compensation
- JUNE 2, 2004KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Kenya scored highly in its human rights protection...
Kenya scored highly in its human rights protection index in 2003, according to a report by Amnesty International
- MAY 21, 2004KenyaDEATH PENALTY
There was song and dance at the High Court in Nyeri...
There was song and dance at the High Court in Nyeri when six men sentenced to hang for robbery were set free by a two-judge appellate court
- MAY 5, 2004KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Kenya's Appeal Court expressed shock at the high number...
Kenya's Appeal Court expressed shock at the high number of prisoners who had died at the country's Naivasha Maximum Prison
- MAY 4, 2004KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Kenya's Court of Appeal learnt that a judge had illegally...
Kenya's Court of Appeal learnt that a judge had illegally sentenced a 16-year-old hired assassin to death
- MAY 4, 2004KenyaDEATH PENALTY
The High Court in Nakuru, Kenya, sentenced to death...
The High Court in Nakuru, Kenya, sentenced to death 28-year-old James Mwangi Gichomo after convicting him of slitting his employer's throat and drinking his blood
- APRIL 16, 2004KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Scores of human rights activists demonstrated in the...
Scores of human rights activists demonstrated in the streets of the Kenyan capital Nairobi against what they called "blantant violation of human rights across the country
- APRIL 12, 2004KenyaDEATH PENALTY
The Kenyan police force was asked to name the officers...
The Kenyan police force was asked to name the officers who allegedly executed three suspects in Mombasa
- APRIL 11, 2004KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Murder, treason and armed robbery are capital crimes.
Murder, treason and armed robbery are capital crimes.
- APRIL 1, 2004KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Three people suspected of plotting to rob a restaurant...
Three people suspected of plotting to rob a restaurant in Mombasa were shot dead by police in a cold blooded execution, bystanders said
- MARCH 10, 2004KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki commuted into life imprisonment...
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki commuted into life imprisonment all death sentences in the country
- MARCH 9, 2004KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Delegates at the constitutional review conference in...
Delegates at the constitutional review conference in Kenya decided that the death penalty would be abolished except in case of murder, child molestation and any other matters established by legislation
- MARCH 4, 2004KenyaDEATH PENALTY
A Court of Appeal, sitting in Nakuru, Kenya, upheld...
A Court of Appeal, sitting in Nakuru, Kenya, upheld a decision to send to the gallows Albert Kitur Kimaiyo, a catechist, and Pastor Benedict Wanjala Biketi, for murder
- FEBRUARY 26, 2004KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Esther Wanjeri Kamau was sentenced to death with her...
Esther Wanjeri Kamau was sentenced to death with her daughter, Lucy Wanjiku Kamau, by a Court of Appeal in Nakuru, Kenya, for murdering her husband
- FEBRUARY 10, 2004KenyaDEATH PENALTY
"More than half of the countries of the world no longer...
"More than half of the countries of the world no longer authorise the death penalty for any crime
- JANUARY 28, 2004KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Ten death row prisoners in Kenya walked to freedom...
Ten death row prisoners in Kenya walked to freedom after the Court of Appeal set aside their convictions - because their prosecution was led by a police constable
- DECEMBER 30, 2003KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Kenyan police came under fire for the execution of...
Kenyan police came under fire for the execution of a 13-year-old boy, whom witnesses say was gunned down by police officers on Christmas Day
- OCTOBER 20, 2003KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Hundreds of convicts on death row or serving life imprisonment...
Hundreds of convicts on death row or serving life imprisonment have demanded the quashing of their sentences and automatic compensation by the Kenyan Government
- OCTOBER 15, 2003KenyaDEATH PENALTY
The Kenyan government said it planned to abolish the...
The Kenyan government said it planned to abolish the death penalty and replace punishment for the most heinous crimes with life imprisonment
- AUGUST 13, 2003KenyaDEATH PENALTY
John King'ori Wachira and John Maina Mwangi were sentenced...
John King'ori Wachira and John Maina Mwangi were sentenced to death by hanging after being found guilty of storming into their victim's home armed with a toy pistol and other crude weapons and robbing him of money and a mobile phone on 20 February 2003
- AUGUST 12, 2003ItalyDEATH PENALTY
Sergio D'Elia and Elisabetta Zamparutti, HOC Secretary...
Sergio D'Elia and Elisabetta Zamparutti, HOC Secretary and Treasurer respectively, met with Kenyan Interior Minister, Moody Awori