Low-income Kenyans More Likely to End Up On Death Row - Study

Kenya's death penalty disproportionately affects people from low-income households, many of whom lack proper legal representation. Those surveyed in a recent study, also accuse the judiciary of corruption, writes Andrew Wasike for Deutsche Welle.

According to the report - Living with a Death Sentence in Kenya: Prisoners' Experience of Crime, Punishment and Death Row - undertaken by Kenyan rights groups in partnership with Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, over 80% of those sentenced to death were from low-income backgrounds and families without access to proper legal representation.  

According to the Afrobarometer survey conducted in 2021, the majority of Kenyans say at least some of the country's judges and magistrates are corrupt. Corruption in the judicial system also means many poor Kenyans have been denied access to justice. Many influential Kenyans have been spared jail for out-of-court settlements or had their cases dropped completely for crimes that would land an ordinary Kenyan in prison for life.

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights is now seeking the abolition of the death penalty. The commission said although the death penalty is still legal, it is ineffective at fighting crime and disproportionately imprisons the poor.