The story of Ruth Kamande, the one-time Miss Lang’ata Women’s Prison has been widely published in both local and international media outlets. Most people arguing that this was a crime of passion.
Ruth Kamande commonly known as Miss Lang’ata was handed the maximum death penalty for stabbing her boyfriend 25 times in 2015
In July 19 2018, she was handed a death penalty by a Kenyan court. The court in its decision had to weigh in all the evidence given, the testimonies given by witnesses.
Aggrieved with her conviction and sentencing, she appealed the case.
In her appeal, Kamande argued that evidence at the scene was tampered with once members of the public were allowed into the deceased’s home immediately after the incident.
But the appellate judges said Kamande failed to substantiate what evidence was tampered with and how the alleged tampering compromised the evidence that was gathered by the police.
Ruth Kamande has suffered a major setback after the appellate court upheld her death sentence for stabbing her late boyfriend 25 times.
But human rights group Amnesty International asked that Kamande’s death sentence be commuted to life imprisonment.
AI Executive Director Irungu Houghton said in a statement that there is no credible evidence that the death penalty deters crime any better than other lawful punishments, and asked the court to call for Kamande’s rehabilitation instead.
The case is now headed to the supreme Court where she will be allowed to appeal the court of appeal decision to uphold death sentence
