Kibaki saves 4000 prisoners from hangman’s noose

By Standard Team

President Kibaki set the ball rolling for the abolition of the death penalty, with his directive to relevant Government organs to urgently review its relevance in our laws.

At the same time the president removed the hangman’s noose on some 4,000 deadly criminals who will now serve life imprisonment.

The president’s action sent fears that prison doors could soon creak open to release some of these death row inmates.

Life imprisonment in Kenya ranges from a day to upwards of 50 years, meaning some of the convicts could leave the prison gates soon. This is not the first time the President has shown his disapproval of the sentence. In 2003, he

ordered the release of 28 death row prisoners and directed that 195 others serve life sentences instead of facing the hangman’s noose.

A hawker rides outside Kamiti Maximum Prison. The President has made a step in abolishing the death penalty. [PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD]

Yesterday’s announcement by the President is the strongest signal yet that the Government could repeal the death sentence from our law books buckling under pressure from the civil society.

The President noted that despite the death penalty remaining in force, no convict has faced the hangman’s noose in the last 22 years, the last execution having taken place in 1987.

"In exercise of powers conferred upon him by the Constitution sections 27 (C) and 29 (2) President Kibaki, upon the advice of the Constitutional Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy, said that the decision was necessitated upon consideration of many prevailing facts" read part of the Statement released by the PPS.

Idling camp

The President regretted that the law as it is today does not permit prisoners on death row to be gainfully utilised by the prison authorities.

This, he noted has led to "idleness and subsequent negative impact on prison discipline as recently witnessed in some facilities."

The President, however, reiterated the death penalty was still part of the country’s laws and persons found guilty of capital offences — robbery with violence, treason and murder- would still be sentenced to death.

Reacting to the President’s decision to commute the death penalty for the 4,000 dreaded criminals, Prisons Commandant Isaiah Osugo said inmates serving life imprisonment will soon be productive to the Government and their relatives as they would take up crafts and trades to earn a living.

He said the inmates would acquire skills and make some money when a scheme dubbed "earning" is implemented under the on-going prisons’ reforms.

Senior Prison authorities convened a meeting at the Prisons headquarters immediately after the President’s edict, perhaps to determine how to deal with hardcore criminals on death row.

Osugo later told The Standard that the institution is ready to rehabilitate criminals willing to embrace change.

However, he said the department would require additional funding to manage the hardcore criminals who will now be required to be sent to various areas for provision of labour.

"This means we have to increase the security at all the institutions to manage the inmates. This is not an easy task but we are ready for the challenge," he said.

He could not immediately estimate how much funds they require to enable the warders control the criminals.

"This is a step ahead in the department’s reforms because the inmates’ sacred lives have now been secured. Congestion of prisons is a minor thing as compared to lives," he said.

When a prisoner serving the life sentence dies, he still remains the property of the State and his relatives are not given the remains, he said.

Those who show good behaviour after being in jail for a longer period are released.

Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko termed the decision a timely intervention.

"The Prisons Department has been unable to utilise over 4,000 prisoners who have been idle within their precincts. Reducing the sentence is the first step," he said.

On the issue of capital cases — robbery with violence, treason and murder — that are still pending in court, the DPP said the President only reduced the sentence for those who were awaiting the hangman’s noose.

"Anticipatory amnesty cannot be granted for accused persons whose cases have not been concluded by the court," he said.

Under penal law, death penalty is awarded to capital offences such as murder and robbery with violence, while life imprisonment is slapped on those found guilty of lesser charges like attempted murder, manslaughter and simple robbery.

A judge who spoke on condition of anonymity said courts would stop passing the death sentence on those found guilty of capital offences only when the law is amended.

"For Kenya to meet the international standards there is need to amend the Constitution and the Penal Code," he said.

However, criminal lawyer Cliff Ombeta scoffed at the President’s decision saying reducing the sentence would not decongest the prisons because the death row convicts will still remain in jail.

Deserving cases

Prof Casper Odegi Awuondo of the University of Nairobi’s Sociology Department, said not all death row convicts should have been given life sentences.

"Although the President acted within the law, cases of the death row convicts should have been evaluated on a case by case basis so as not to release dangerous and unreformed criminals to the streets," he said.

He added: "This blanket move means even the worst, unrepentant criminals could soon be on their way out of prisons."

Awuondo also said that members of the communities from where the convicts come from should also have been involved in the process.

Insiders at the Kamiti Maximum Prisons where the majority of the prisoners are cooling their heels, said there was jubilation from the death row convicts when they received the news Monday.

The convicts broke into song and dance from their cells saying they were now free to walk out of the institutions and visit their kin.

Death row convicts are not allowed to get out of their cells even for labour, according to the prisons rules. They are on a 24-hour watch by warders.

It is alleged some of these convicts have been behind a number of violent incidents that happened in Kamiti and Naivasha prisons.

A parliamentary committee report found out that the prisoners are idle, which leads to the violence.

The prisoners have in the past attacked warders in the riots that turned fatal. Some of them have rioted boycotting food and other services.

Months after he was elected President, Kibaki commuted death sentences of 195 prisoners and released 28 prisoners who were on death row.

— Reporting by Evelyn Kwamboka, Ally Jamah, Wahome Thuku, Beauttah Omanga and Cyrus Ombati