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
- AUGUST 6, 2003KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Roy Richard Elirama and Vincent Joseph Kessy, who had...
Roy Richard Elirama and Vincent Joseph Kessy, who had been sentenced to death on four counts of robbery with violence, escaped the hangman's noose after the Kenyan Appeal Court ruled that the two policemen who had prosecuted their case were unqualified
- JULY 15, 2003KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Vice Justice Minister of Kenya Njeru Githae announced...
Vice Justice Minister of Kenya Njeru Githae announced his governments intention to abolish the death penalty and to declare a general amnesty affecting all convicts on death row for 20 years or more
- JULY 10, 2003KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Convicted prisoners at the Kamiti Maximum Security...
Convicted prisoners at the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison, Kenya, complained to Home Affairs Minister Moody Awori, during his visit to the institution, saying their appeals took too long to be determined, especially for those sentenced to death, and that
- JULY 9, 2003KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Robinson Githae, Assistant Minister for Justice and...
Robinson Githae, Assistant Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs of Kenya, in a meeting with Hands Off Cain officials in Rome, ensured his country's commitment to the abolition of the death penalty and Kenya's support for a moratorium resolution
- APRIL 24, 2003KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Kenya abstained from the resolution on the death penalty...
Kenya abstained from the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights, in Geneva
- APRIL 4, 2003KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Three men wept in disbelief inside a High Court in...
Three men wept in disbelief inside a High Court in Nakuru when a judge substituted a five-year sentence they had appealed against with that of death
- MARCH 19, 2003KenyaDEATH PENALTY
A pregnant woman found guilty of murder was saved from...
A pregnant woman found guilty of murder was saved from the hangman's noose by her unborn baby
- MARCH 12, 2003KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Eight people were sentenced to hang for the vicious...
Eight people were sentenced to hang for the vicious murder of a land dealer in Kenya
- FEBRUARY 28, 2003KenyaDEATH PENALTY
The heads of thirteen EU countries represented in Kenya...
The heads of thirteen EU countries represented in Kenya asked the Government to abolish the death penalty
- FEBRUARY 26, 2003KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Three convicted bank robbers were sentenced to death
Three convicted bank robbers were sentenced to death
- FEBRUARY 25, 2003KenyaDEATH PENALTY
President Mwai Kibaki ordered the release of 28 death...
President Mwai Kibaki ordered the release of 28 death row prisoners and commuted the death sentences of another 195 inmates to life in prison, following his campaign pledge to reform Kenya's prison system, a senior official said
- FEBRUARY 25, 2003KenyaDEATH PENALTY
KENYA TAKES OVER 200 PRISONERS OFF DEATH ROW
February 25, 2003: President Mwai Kibaki ordered the release of 28 death row prisoners and commuted the death sentences of another 195 inmates to life in prison, following his campaign pledge to reform Kenya´s prison system, a senior official said.
- FEBRUARY 18, 2003KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Amnesty International commended Kenya's new government...
Amnesty International commended Kenya's new government for taking positive steps on human rights, but urged the team set up by President Mwai Kibaki to probe abuses committed in the past
- FEBRUARY 15, 2003KenyaDEATH PENALTY
A court in Kenya sentenced two middle-aged men to death...
A court in Kenya sentenced two middle-aged men to death after they were found guilty of robbery with violence
- FEBRUARY 13, 2003KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Elisha Otieno Odede and his wife, Elizabeth Akinyi,...
Elisha Otieno Odede and his wife, Elizabeth Akinyi, were sentenced to hang by a court in Homa Bay, Kenya, after being convicted of robbery with violence
- FEBRUARY 12, 2003KenyaDEATH PENALTY
The Kenyan newspaper Daily Nation reported that murder...
The Kenyan newspaper Daily Nation reported that murder suspects at a Nairobi remand prison demanded the abolition of death penalty and to be allowed to enjoy their conjugal rights
- FEBRUARY 5, 2003KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Peter Esinyeni Aroto and Eric Ebeno Ebei, both of Kenya,...
Peter Esinyeni Aroto and Eric Ebeno Ebei, both of Kenya, were sentenced to death by the Nairobi High Court after pleading guilty to murder
- JANUARY 20, 2003KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Armed robbery or theft carried out with violence is...
Armed robbery or theft carried out with violence is punishable by hanging in Kenya
- JANUARY 13, 2003KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Kenya's new government wants to abolish the death penalty...
Kenya's new government wants to abolish the death penalty within the next six months, Justice Minister Kiraitu Murungi said
- JANUARY 1, 2003KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Murder, treason and armed robbery are capital crimes
Murder, treason and armed robbery are capital crimes
- JANUARY 1, 2003KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Murder, treason and armed robbery
Murder, treason and armed robbery
- JANUARY 1, 2003KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Kenya has signed but not yet ratified the statutes...
Kenya has signed but not yet ratified the statutes of the International Criminal Court, the UN permanent judicial body capable of trying individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes
- JANUARY 1, 2003KenyaDEATH PENALTY
The last hanging was in 1987, when the August 1, 1982,...
The last hanging was in 1987, when the August 1, 1982, coup plotters Hezekiah Ochuka and Pancras Oteyo Okumu were executed following a court-martial
- JANUARY 1, 2003KenyaDEATH PENALTY
A commission to review Kenya's 1963 constitution was...
A commission to review Kenya's 1963 constitution was appointed in October 2000 to draft a new charter for the East African nation
- NOVEMBER 6, 2002KenyaDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that the Constitution of Kenya Review...
It was reported that the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission wrote Part (2) of the same Clause 12 seeks to abolish the death penalty
- OCTOBER 15, 2002KenyaDEATH PENALTY
A Kenyan who killed a Tanzanian by cutting him into...
A Kenyan who killed a Tanzanian by cutting him into pieces was sentenced to hang by the Tanzanian High Court
- OCTOBER 1, 2002KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Nine gangsters were sentenced to death
Nine gangsters were sentenced to death
- SEPTEMBER 26, 2002KenyaDEATH PENALTY
The Kenya Human Rights Commission released a report...
The Kenya Human Rights Commission released a report on the Human Rights situation in the country stating that there had been more than 1,500 cases of violence and human rights violations reported countrywide in the first three months of the year
- SEPTEMBER 23, 2002KenyaDEATH PENALTY
David Ouma Onyango was sentenced to death by Kisumu...
David Ouma Onyango was sentenced to death by Kisumu Senior Principal Magistrate, Mrs Olga Aketch Sewe, for violently robbing Bon Murindu Odhiambo, director of Skylark Rural Credit Company
- SEPTEMBER 23, 2002KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Titus Onim, Vincent Wafula, Michael Oboo, George Watula...
Titus Onim, Vincent Wafula, Michael Oboo, George Watula and Juma Wambaro were sentenced to death by hanging after being convicted of robbery with violence