Kenyan national Ruth Kamande, convicted of murder in 2018, has graduated with a law degree from London University as she continues to serve her life sentence at Kamiti Maximum Prison in Nairobi.

In 2015, the 24-year-old stabbed her boyfriend, Farid Mohammed, 25 times in the chest in Buruburu, an estate in Kenya, after realizing he had tried to infect her with HIV/AIDS. She was later handed the death penalty. 

Speaking during the graduation ceremony on November 26, 2024, at the Kamiti Maximum Prison, Kamande gave credit to the commitment of her fellow graduating inmates, appreciating the great milestone they had achieved.

“We are here to celebrate graduands who are well informed, transformed, rehabilitated, and whose stories have been uniquely rewritten, “she stated.

Kamande thanked the Kenyan Prison Service for the rehabilitation mandate and encouraged her fellow inmates to emulate the example of their successful inmate predecessors.

“Take a look at our fellow inmate Hamisi Mzari, who was once behind bars, studied law, but now is practicing law at the bar as an advocate at the Court of Kenya,” Kamande said.

The founder of Justice Defenders, Alexander McLean, applauded the graduates and defined them as a community of overcomers. He tasked them to carry on the law awaiting them with diligence.

“To those who are to serve in the Bar, go out and serve as lawyers; serve those who have no one else to tell their side of the story; they have been waiting for you; serve those whom others have rejected, those whom others do not want to go near,“ McLean said.

Former convict and turned lawyer, Hamisi Mzari praised Phillip Mueke Maingi, Isaac Kimaru Ndewa, Joseph Kaberia Kainga, and 11 others who served their sentences as inmates and defied odds to become competent lawyers serving in various courts, including the Supreme Court.

“These were trained as lawyers through the partnership with the University of London. They were trained as lawyers and paralegals,” Hamisi said.

Kamande, who was sentenced to death in 2018 after being found guilty of killing her boyfriend, had her sentence commuted to life imprisonment and has recently sought to appeal her case at the Supreme Court, citing issues surrounding domestic violence and self-defense.

Since committing the murder in 2015, Kamande has become popular not only because of the magnitude of the crime she was convicted of but also for her beauty and unique capabilities.

In 2016, she contested in the Miss Lang’ata Women’s Prison contest and won.

However, Kamande’s fate remains uncertain after the judges said her alleged defense of self-defense was unbelievable given the strong and compelling evidence of the prosecution witnesses.

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