Amnesty welcomes Kenyatta’s stance on death penalty

Rights body Amnesty International has welcomed the decision by Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta to commute all death sentences to life imprisonment.

In a statement issued to the media, Muthoni Wanyeki, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East Africa says yesterday’s decision brings Kenya closer to the growing community of nations that have abolished this cruel form of punishment.

Wanyeki has called for total abolition of the death penalty for posterity.

President Kenyatta’s decision means that the over 2,700 prisoners currently on death row in Kenya will now serve life sentences.

Written by David Kugonza