JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
:As far as we are aware there is no law in Kenya which would prevent a person charged with an offence punishable by death from pleading guilty to such a charge. As long ago as 1946, the then Court of Appeal for Eastern Africa had this to say on that subject:-
"This is one of those rare cases in which it was in no
sense improper for a Judge to accept a plea of guilty to murder. The accused was represented by counsel and must have understood what he was charged with and the consequences of his plea . There is no statutory provision invalidating such a plea." (underlining ours) - see REX v. CHANGUONY ARAP KISANG, (1946) VOL XIII, 153 .
We think the same position still obtains to this day.
There is no statutory provision to the effect that a person charged with an offence the penalty for which is death cannot plead guilty to such a charge. But as the court remarked in KISANG'S case, such cases are rare. They are indeed the exception rather than the rule. That being so, …