Origin and history of death penalty in Kenya

Kenya: The death penalty goes back many decades. The practice that was first introduced in Kenya in 1893 was, however, not widespread in the pre-colonial era.

The high number of successful appeals against the death sentence provides evidence that a number of people may have been wrongly convicted and even possibly executed due to a flawed justice system or lack of fair trial. Pre-colonial Kenyan societies were not eager to take away the life of another person even in the situation where murder was involved.