Miss Langata: No Escape for Prison Queen Sentenced to Death

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Miss Langata 2016 and death row inmate Ruth Kamande Wanjiku in court in 2016
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2016 Miss Langata beauty queen Ruth Kamande Wanjiku death sentence appeal has been thrown out by an Appellate Court.

The Court of Appeal upheld the death sentence against Ruth Kamande, who was accused of fatally stabbing her boyfriend 22 times at Buruburu estate in September 2015.

The announcement was made by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) under Noordin Haji on Friday, November 6. 

High Court judge Jessie Lessit sentenced Kamande to death in 2017 saying the prosecution had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused committed the offence.

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Miss Langata 2016 and death row inmate Ruth Kamande Wanjiku
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While making the ruling, Lessit stated that it was important that young people realised killing a boyfriend or girlfriend is not a good thing for society and does not make one appear to be 'cool'. 

Kamande's aunt described the relationship between her niece and the deceased, Farid Mohamed, as an on-and-off and one-sided relationship.

"As the judge mentioned, the defendant was very controlling, aggressive, never-let-go, jealous. She was just too controlling and kept following him," Emma Wanjiku lamented in an interview with a local daily after her niece was sentenced to death in 2017. 

The beauty queen had appealed against Lessit's ruling and has been following proceedings of the case for three years while in detention. 

ODPP lauded the courts for making the ruling to sentence Kamande to death, stating that justice was served. 

Kenya has not carried out an execution for over 30 years since the death of Hezekiah Ochuka who was accused of plotting a coup against Mzee Daniel Moi's government in 1982.

Thousands, however, remain on death row or lifetime sentence and continue to be sentenced to death due to the automatic nature of the death penalty.

In December 2017, the Supreme Court of Kenya declared the mandatory death penalty unconstitutional. 

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Death row inmate Ruth Kamande Wanjiku poses for a photo after winning the Miss Langata beauty pageant in 2016
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