Reprieve for 2,747 after Uhuru cuts their death sentences

Some 2,747 death row convicts will now serve life imprisonment after President Uhuru Kenyatta commuted their death sentences to life jail terms. PHOTO | VINCENT ACHUKA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • 2,655 male convicts and 92 female convicts will be removed from the death row to serve life sentences.
  • The last commutation of death sentences to life imprisonment was made in 2009 by the then President Mwai Kibaki.
  • President Kenyatta also signed a pardon warrant and released 102 long-term serving convicts.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has signed documents commuting all death sentences to life jail terms.

Following the signing of the documents at State House, Nairobi, some 2,747 death-row convicts will now serve life imprisonment.

The number includes 2,655 men and 92 women, who will be removed from death row to serve life sentences.

The last commutation of death sentences to life imprisonment was made in 2009 by then President Mwai Kibaki.

Invoking the Power of Mercy provided for under Article 133 of the Constitution, President Kenyatta on Monday also signed a pardon warrant and released 102 long-term serving convicts.

The reprieve for the 102 convicts came after a thorough vetting by the Power of Mercy Advisory Committee.

The Power of Mercy is a prerogative power conferred on the President by the Constitution and entails granting pardon to reformed and rehabilitated convicted criminal offenders deserving early release from prison.

Present were Attorney-General Githu Muigai, Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery, Power of Mercy Advisory Committee Secretary Michael Kagika, Prisons Commissioner-General Isaiah Osugo, and Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua.