In a groundbreaking ruling on Monday, July 10, the Court of Appeal abolished the life sentence, deeming it unconstitutional and potentially impacting previous criminal cases.
A three-judge bench composed of Justices Pauline Nyamweya, Jessie Lesiit, and George Odunga made the landmark decision while presiding over the case of Julius Kitsao Manyeso versus the Republic (2023). This ruling establishes a significant judicial precedent.
The bench unanimously concluded that it was unjust to eliminate the death penalty but still sentence convicts to spend their entire lives behind bars. They argued that a life sentence contradicted the objective of conviction, which is to rehabilitate offenders.
"We are equally guided by this holding by the Supreme Court of Kenya, and in the instant appeal, we are of the view that having found the sentence of life imprisonment to be unconstitutional, we have the discretion to interfere with the said sentence," ruled the bench.
Kitsao had been handed a life sentence by a magistrate court for allegedly defiling a minor, and his previous attempts to seek legal remedies at the High Court proved unsuccessful.
In a final effort to secure his release, Kitsao lodged an appeal at the Court of Appeal. The bench concluded that imprisoning an individual aims to deter, rehabilitate, denounce, or retribute for the committed offense. Therefore, sentencing Kitsao to life imprisonment contravened the purpose of issuing prison terms.
The Court of Appeal noted that a magistrate court imposing a life sentence on Kitsao was akin to meting out an abolished death sentence.
"For all practical purposes, in terms of execution of the sentences, life sentence, and death sentence seem to mean the same thing in this country," the bench ruled.
Consequently, Kitsao was ordered to serve a 40-year sentence for the purpose of deterrence and rehabilitation, starting from the date of his conviction.
The judgment of the three-judge bench also relied on the significant case of Francis Karioko Muruatetu versus the Republic. In a 2021 Supreme Court ruling, it was determined that sentencing Muruatetu to life imprisonment for murder clashed with the progressive Bill of Rights in Kenya's 2010 Constitution and undermined the rule of law.
The Supreme Court upheld a 2017 High Court ruling that declared the mandatory death penalty for murder, imposed on Muruatetu, as unconstitutional.
The Muruatetu ruling emphasized that it also extended to the imposition of a mandatory indeterminate life sentence, which denied a convict facing life imprisonment the opportunity to present mitigation arguments.