Lawyer Makau Mutua has condemned the sentence passed to Joseph Irungu alias Jowie after he was found guilty of murdering businesswoman Monica Kimani. Lawyer Makau Mutua said the death penalty has no place in modern society. In a statement on Thursday, March 14, Mutua faulted Lady Justice Grace Nzioka for sentencing Jowie to death. Makau Mutua explains why the death penalty is inappropriate According to the lawyer, the death penalty has no place in modern society, no matter the heinousness of the crime committed by the accused. “The death penalty has no place in any modern society. It’s jurisprudentially inconsistent with the logic, values, and legal philosophy that undergirds Kenya’s 2010 Constitution. No court should EVER impose such an irreversible penalty on any offender in Kenya, no matter the heinousness of the crime, or how despicable and depraved the felon. Degrees of savagery, depravity, or heartlessness do not vacate the moral, practical, and philosophical indefensibility of the death penalty and its finality,” Mutua In his remarks, the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party spokesperson said the death penalty does not bring back the victim to life nor stop future killers. The law scholar termed the sentence as vengeful, primitive, callous and without any redemption to benefit the society. “Nor does the death penalty bring back the victim or deter future killers. It’s vengeful, primitive, and callous and without redemption or any single benefit to society. An eye for eye makes the entire society blind,” he added.
by Amos Khaemba