Life in death row: Accounts from former convict on death sentence protocols

Joseph 'Jowie' Irungu was on Wednesday handed a death sentence for the murder of businesswoman Monica Kimani in 2018.

The court's verdict delivered by Lady Justice Grace Nzioka in the murder case sparked discussions about the death penalty and the fate of those on death row.

To find out what lies ahead for Jowie after the death sentence Citizen TV spoke to Crime Si Poa founder Pete Ouko who once found himself in a similar position.

He walks us through the death sentence protocols explaining the processes surrounding imprisonment under the death sentence in Kenya.

"The moment someone is sentenced to suffer death by the judge they go down to the court cells and they are processed there. They'll be taken back to remand or maybe straight to the maximum security prison nearest where they have been convicted," he said.

"For Jowie the closest prison is Kamiti maximum prison. Upon arrival you're received at the reception, you're given a new set of uniform, a bag where you can keep your other clothes and then you are assigned where you are going to stay."

The prisons under the discretion of the commissioner general of prisons can also opt to transfer the inmate to another maximum security prison.

Kenya has eight maximum security prisons including one women's prison, the Lang'ata women's Maximum Security Prison.

Others include the Kamiti, Kisumu, Kibos, Naivasha, Shimo la Tewa, Kingongo and Manyani.

Persons sentenced to death are not treated differently from other inmates or segregated.

"It's not what it used to be when I went to prison...after being given prison garb you are served dinner which is the usual prison food, then you go to your cell depending on the number capacity in the prison it could be 3 to 5."

He added that prisoners are all required to keep neatly shaved hair.

"There's nobody treated differently, of course, you will have your hair shaved. You don't need to keep long hair in prison anyway, there are no different uniforms," he narrated.

"They have the open-door policy, you have visitation rights. There are open days where your family can come and hang out with them."

Opportunities to study or get technical skills are also available in prison.

He also demystified the much-asked question of where inmates who die on death are buried.

"People have asked if you die in prison are you buried there? The answer is no. Your family is notified and your family takes you for burial so there's dignity even in death from the year 2003," explains Ouko.

There are currently 124 people on death row in maximum security prisons across the country.

The gallows have been largely viewed as archaic, unjust and harsh. In his two terms in office, former President Mwai Kibaki commuted the death sentences of more than 4,000 prisoners to life imprisonment, leaving few on death row.

Subsequently, former President Uhuru Kenyatta would commute death sentences to terms of life in prison.

Under the penal code, the death penalty is retained in Kenya for the offences of murder, robbery with violence, attempted robbery with violence, and treason.