This archive report was first published on 4 November 2019.
On November 4, 2019, a report was published by the Standard revealing the demographics of death row convicts in Kenya. The report, which was filed before the Supreme Court, showed that Luhya men and Kamba women are the majority among those sentenced to death.
The data was collected by a task force formed to look into death sentencing, which randomly picked men and women on death row in 38 prisons across the country. The findings showed that Luhya men form a majority of those in jail for murder, followed by Luo men, while Kikuyu and Kisii men tie at third place.
On the other hand, Kamba and Kikuyu women follow each other closely, then Luhya and Meru women follow in third and fourth place. Although 27 per cent of the men hail from Nyanza, there were no women from the region. At least nine per cent of the men are from Eastern, while only two per cent of the men and 15 per cent of the women on death row hail from Central.
Regarding religion, all the women and 84 per cent of the men are Christians, while nine per cent are Muslims, four per cent are agnostic or atheist, and one man's religion is unknown. The report also reveals that men in customary or polygamous marriages are more likely to kill, with at least 76 per cent of the male convicts saying they are in such marriages.
It emerged that those with little or no education are the majority, with at least 71 per cent of men saying they ended their education at primary school, while 95 per cent of women terminated their education at the same level. A majority of robbery with violence suspects are secondary school graduates, and casual labourers top the list here too.
Just as murder, it emerges that those incarcerated for robbery with violence were jailed in their prime years – between 26 and 35. The report highlights the need for a more nuanced approach to addressing the root causes of crime in Kenya.
