Kamiti death row inmates are unperturbed by their sentences and they offered insights into why they engaged in violent crimes and homicides.
Their insights were captured in a study done by Carolyn Hoyle and Lucrezia Rizelli under The Death Penalty Project.
The study published by Oxford University is titled 'Living with a Death Sentence in Kenya: Prisoners' Experiences of Crime, Punishment and Death Row.'
Kenya is an abolitionist de facto state meaning that while convicts are still sentenced to death, the government does not conduct executions.
Since 1987, Kenya has convicted nearly 600 prisoners to death, most awaiting execution dates are imprisoned at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison.
The aim of the death penalty is to deter citizens from engaging in violent crimes.
“The existence of the harsh consequences did not deter crime as most death row inmates had no idea that their crimes might attract a death sentence.
“Just like findings from research done in other countries, the threat of being sentenced to death had little impact on how people behaved,” the study revealed.
The study found that most inmates did not know the existing laws on violent crimes and homicide.
“Many Kenyans facing execution are poorly educated and are only proficient in their vernacular languages.
“They did not understand information distributed in Kenya’s national languages: English and Swahili hence failed to know that the death penalty was the likely punishment for their offense,” the study explained why the harsh consequences were not deterring crime.
99 per cent of death row inmates did not know the death penalty was a punishment available for their offense in law according to the study.
The death penalty is handed out on the presumption of the inmate made a rational choice before committing the crime.
The study revealed that most of the inmates did not premeditate their crimes.
“The most common reasons given by participants for committing murder were anger (27 per cent), provocation (23 per cent), self-defense (17 per cent), and extreme emotional situations (13 per cent),” part of the study indicated.
Based on the findings about the effectiveness of the death penalty in fighting crime, the study recommended its abolishment.
“Abolishing the death penalty will not lead to a spike in violent crime in Kenya,” the study adviced.
