Decriminalizing Attempted Suicide in Kenya's Penal Code

Professor Lukoye Atwoli, a member of Aga Khan University’s Medical College of East Africa, has taken a strong step towards changing mental health policy and has proposed a petition to decriminalize attempted suicide in Kenya. Currently, through Section 226 of the Penal Code, it is considered a misdemeanor. Through this measure, the scholar challenges the current punitive attitude and offers a point of view that is in line with global mental health practices and standards.

As Professor Atwoli notes, the use of a crime as a means of influence not only does not give positive results but also serves as a constraint that prevents the oppressed from seeking help. Moreover, it does not affect the situation of the person in need in any way but only increases the stigma of disability. The document is currently with the Public Petitions Committee of the National Assembly. In an interview, the DFA scholar said, “Attempts to prevent suicide are like attempts to prevent the suffering that leads to it”. As a result, his petition can serve as a starting point for more effective measures and practices that can help those mentally run over who currently have nowhere else to turn in Kenya.