Murder convict Ruth Kamande who stabbed her boyfriend 25 times is among inmates graduating with a Law degree at Kamiti Maximum Prison.
Speaking during the graduation ceremony on Wednesday, November 27, she took pride in her latest achievement describing it as a new chapter.
“We are here to celebrate this new chapter with a new story which all of you have participated in rewriting. We are not only here to celebrate graduates from the University of London but also graduates who have successfully studied law behind bars.
“Graduands who are well transformed, rehabilitated, and reformed. Graduands whose stories have been rewritten uniquely by all of you,” Kamande said while delivering her speech.
In September 2015, during a heated argument, Kamande stabbed Farid Mohamed Halim multiple times, resulting in 25 stab wounds that ultimately led to his death.
Following the incident, she was arrested and charged with murder.
Throughout her trial which garnered significant media attention, Kamande claimed she acted in self-defense, asserting that Halim had attacked her first.
The prosecution argued that the nature of the attack indicated premeditation rather than self-defense.
In 2018, the High Court found her guilty of murder and sentenced her to death.
Kamande subsequently appealed her conviction, but in 2020, the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s decision.
“Having carefully examined the evidence on record, we find the conclusion that the appellant violently, intentionally, and unlawfully killed the deceased inescapable. On our own analysis, we find no fault and agree entirely with the learned Judge’s finding,” the Court of Appeal ruled.
In July 2023, President William Ruto commuted Kamande’s death sentence to life imprisonment as part of broader reforms aimed at addressing issues within the penal system.
This decision opened up the possibility for her to appeal to the Supreme Court on grounds related to battered women syndrome.
“We have looked at the issues that have been raised by the applicant and note that the issue surrounding battered women syndrome is ideally raw in the country and has had not so many decisions on the same. We feel the same be given a window for interrogation by the Supreme Court,” justices Asike Makhandia, Agnes Murgor, and Sankale ole Kantai ruled.
As of now, Kamande remains incarcerated.
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