In Kenya's legal system, death penalty is no longer the ultimate punishment for the most serious crimes. Following a landmark court ruling, the final sentence has been redefined as life imprisonment. This punishment is now applied to a range of grave offences.
This follows a 2017 Supreme Court ruling in the Francis Karioko Muruatetu vs Republic case, which declared the mandatory death penalty unconstitutional.
The ruling granted judges the discretion to issue a life sentence or an alternative punishment, enabling them to consider the specific circumstances of each case.
Under the new legal framework, although judges have the power to impose a life sentence, it is not an automatic or fixed punishment. The final verdict is now tailored to the details of each case and the offender's culpability.
Life Sentence Crimes
While murder is the most common offence that can result in this sentence, a life term can also be handed down for other serious crimes. These include treason, violent robbery and aggravated sexual assault, all of which are outlined in Kenya's Penal Code.
Robbery with violence is also a crime punishable by death, but courts now have the power to sentence offenders to life imprisonment.
Also Read: Court of Appeal Abolishes Life Imprisonment
Defilement is also punishable by life imprisonment under the Sexual Offences Act. For example, defiling a child under the age of seven carries a mandatory life sentence.
However, in 2023, the Court of Appeal ruled that an indeterminate life sentence for this crime is unconstitutional because it denies convicts a chance to be heard in mitigation.
The court changed the punishment to a fixed sentence of 40 years, allowing for the possibility of rehabilitation.
Treason, a crime against the State, is another offense that can result in life imprisonment according to the Kenyan law.
Although it is technically punishable by death, the sentences are usually reduced to life imprisonment through presidential orders.
Another crime is the administration of an unlawful oath to commit a capital offense, which is specifically listed in the Penal Code as carrying a life sentence.
The Judiciary has, however, been working on reforming the sentencing laws as courts maintain that mandatory and indefinite life sentences are unconstitutional.
Also Read: CJ Koome Proposes Reducing Life Sentence to 30 Years
As such, judges use discretion, consider the circumstances of each case, and allow room for rehabilitation.
Owing to these developments, the meaning of “life imprisonment” seems to have shifted. It no longer always means imprisonment for the rest of one’s life. In many cases, it can now be reviewed and turned into a fixed-term sentence.
