The Jurist's Take Podcast

Commemorated on December 3rd annually around the world, IDPD mobilizes support for critical issues relating to the inclusion of persons with disabilities, promotes awareness-raising about disability issues and draws attention to the benefits of an inclusive and accessible society for all.

ICJ Kenya Programme Officer Damaris Kemunto sat down with student leader Haya Dennis to discuss the challenges PLWDs encounter in institutions of higher learning and how they can be made more inclusive.

Thank you for tuning in to our podcast series on Media Law in Kenya. In this sixth episode, we conclude on this series by highlighting issues that arose in the course of our conversations.

Greetings, and thank you for tuning in to our podcast series on Media Law in Kenya. In this inaugural episode, we kick things off by providing an introduction to this series and delving into a review of a book authored by Mr. Joseph Kihanya, titled "Media Law Handbook for Journalists in Kenya."

Thank you for tuning in to our podcast series on Media Law in Kenya. In this fifth episode, we discuss the intricacy Copyright issues and Artificial Intelligence.

Thank you for tuning in to our podcast series on Media Law in Kenya. In this fourth episode, we discuss Access to information for Journalists in Kenya.

Thank you for tuning in to our podcast series on Media Law in Kenya. In this second episode, we discuss the balance between the Gavel and the pen.

Thank you for tuning in to our podcast series on Media Law in Kenya. In this second episode, we discuss the intricacy surrounding Defamation laws in Kenya.

The death penalty is a cruel, degrading and inhumane form of punishment. As the international instruments (Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ) provide for its abolition, it is valid within Kenya's constitutional and legislative frameworks—specifically, the Penal Code which prescribes death as a punishment for capital offences.

ICJ Kenya has been at the forefront of the advocacy campaign to abolish the death penalty in Kenya. As an organization that advances women's rights, the fight for the abolition of the death penalty ought to be based on an intersectional and gender-based approach. For this reason, we periodically conduct research to inform our advocacy strategies on the realities of women on death row.

According to the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, women comprise less than 5% of the global death row population. Analysis of their profiles, backgrounds, and crimes for which they were sentenced reveal the significant existence of gender biases in capital punishment proceedings. Women are exposed to intersectional discrimination throughout the judicial process leading to the death penalty as well as once on death row.

Similarly, the 2018 Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide report, shows that a large majority of women on death row are from ethnic and racial minorities, non-literate, have intellectual, mental and/or psychosocial disabilities, and have experienced gender-based violence.

In Kenya, statistics from the Kenya Prisons Service indicate that 22 women are on death row as of January 2023. Trends from the court cases also indicate that most of these women kill their male partners in self-defence; as a result, they are sentenced to death. Moreover, in most instances, courts do not consider instances of GBV as mitigating factors during sentencing, as a result, these women are disproportionately disadvantaged by the death sentence imposed on them.

In this episode, ICJ Kenya Programme Officer, Geoffrey Odhiambo, explains to Pamoja FM Journalist, Henix Obuchunju, the role of Kenyan youths in tackling corruption through open contracting.

This episode is in Kiswahili and Sheng.

In the third episode of Open Contracting, we highlight the role of the Auditor General, key findings from the KEMSA audit and how open contracting could have helped avert 'scandals' Kenya has experienced.

In the second episode of our podcast series on Open Contracting, Pamoja FM Journalist Henix Obuchunju sits with Bilasio Wandera and Wilkister Oduor of Kariobangi Paralegal Network to discuss their experience trying to access procurement information in the education and health sectors in Nairobi County.

In this first part of the four-part podcast series Pamoja FM Journalist, Henix Obuchunju, interviews ICJ Programme Officer Jane Muhia and Communications Consultant Susan Kendi to explore the definition of Open Contracting, Why it is important, How it applies to Kenya and the Role of the different stakeholders in Open Stakeholders.