Summary:
- Recent months have seen Zambia and the Central African Republic announce plans to abolish the death penalty. Despite Kenya’s retention of the practice, executions haven’t occurred since 1987. However, efforts to abolish it face inertia and lack of public awareness.
In recent months, Zambia and the Central African Republic (CAR) have both declared their intentions to eliminate the death penalty.
Among the member countries of the African Union (AU), 22 have completely abolished the death penalty, with an additional one having abolished it for ordinary crimes. In contrast, only four AU countries executed individuals in 2021: Botswana, Egypt, Somalia, and South Sudan.
Seventeen African nations are categorized as “de facto abolitionist,” meaning they have refrained from executing anyone for a decade. Kenya, for instance, retains the death penalty by hanging, a practice stemming from its colonial past. However, Kenya hasn’t carried out an execution since 1987 when Hezekiah Ochuka and Pancras Oteyo Okumu were put to death for their involvement in a failed coup attempt against President Daniel Arap Moi in 1982.
Despite this prolonged hiatus, Kenya still upholds the death penalty, primarily out of habit, convenience, and inertia rather than a thoughtful consideration of its efficacy or public sentiment.
Research indicates that many Kenyans are unaware of their country’s retention of the death penalty, with only 66 percent being cognizant of it, and merely 21 percent aware of its dormancy for 35 years. Nonetheless, over 100 individuals are sentenced to death annually, predominantly for murder or violent robbery.
Moreover, the government’s inertia is sustained by periodic mass commutations of death sentences. In 2009, President Mwai Kibaki commuted the sentences of 4,000 prisoners, followed by another 2,747 under President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2016.
Although executions could potentially resume as long as the law remains intact, there’s a growing consensus among legal experts and opinion formers for its abolition. Recent studies suggest that Kenyan opinion shapers overwhelmingly support abolition, and public opinion is not a significant obstacle.
Efforts to limit the scope of capital punishment have been made, such as the Supreme Court’s 2017 ruling declaring the mandatory death penalty for murder unconstitutional, granting judges discretion in sentencing. However, by the end of 2021, 601 individuals remained on death row, with 14 death sentences handed down that year.
Despite claims by the government that public support justifies retention, research indicates otherwise. A majority of Kenyans, while initially in favor of retention, would accept abolition if it became government policy. Similarly, opinion formers overwhelmingly support abolition, citing concerns about wrongful convictions and human rights abuses.
Historically, African countries have pursued various routes to abolition, including legislative amendments, presidential campaigns, and constitutional changes. Kenyan opinion formers advocate for a multifaceted approach, involving legal, legislative, and grassroots efforts, to finally abolish the death penalty, reflecting its obsolete and unjust nature.
