Death penalty is inadmissible in allcircumstances

Two weeks ago, my opinion on the sentencing of Ruth Kamande to death generated a storm among readers of this column. The arguments provoked my curiosity. This week, I revisit the issues they raise and the history and current state of our prisons.

Unsurprisingly like the death penalty, prisons are not indigenous African institutions. Before the colonials descended on us, we emphasized compensation and redress, not incarceration. Prisons came with slavery and colonialism. Kenya’s first prison The Nairobi Remand and Allocation Prison and the Kenya Prisons Services were established in 1911. Prisons locked up petty criminals, the mentally ill, murderers and freedom fighters with little distinction between them. It was not until the 1990s, that public outcry over overcrowding, torture and inhumane treatment of offenders triggered real reforms.