Nairobi,KENYA:Amnesty International has opposed the death penalty given to Ruth Kamande who was accused and found guilty of killing her boyfriend .
Ruth Kamande was sentenced by High Court Judge Jessie Lesiit yesterday after she was earlier found culpable of killing her boyfriend Farid Mohamed by stabbing him 22 times in 2015.
In a statement, the organization has expressed concerns that the sentence was a blow to the country’s progress in terms of doing away with the death penalty.
“We are concerned that Kenya continues to use this cruel, inhumane and outdated mode of punishment. This sentence is a blow to Kenya’s progressive record in commuting death sentences to terms of imprisonment,” said Amnesty International Kenya’s Executive Director, Irungu Houghton.
The organization wants the sentence commuted and the Lang’ata women’s prison beauty queen rehabilitated.
“There isn’t any credible evidence that the death penalty deters crime any better than other lawful punishments. This death sentence must be commuted immediately and Ruth Kamande rehabilitated,” added Irungu.
On October 24, 2016, President Uhuru Kenyatta signed orders sparing the lives of 2,655 men and 92 women who had been sentenced to death, commuting their sentences to terms of life in prison. While Kenya still authorizes the death penalty, it has not carried out an execution in nearly 30 years.
No executions have been carried out in Kenya since 1987 when Hezekiah Ochuka and Pancras Oteyo Okumu were hanged for treason, after the coup d’état attempt.
