Sentenced to death for murder in 2001, at the age of 31, Pete Ouko, then father of two young children, always maintained his innocence. Held for nearly eighteen years in a cell with thirteen other prisoners, he testifies today to the difficulty of surviving while awaiting his execution, in particularly complicated conditions. Pardoned on 26 October 2007 and released in 2016, he is now a law graduate from London University. He is involved in defending the rights of prisoners in Africa through the Youth Safety Awareness Initiative, of which he is the founder and director.

Pete lived in inhumane conditions on death row in Kenya, locked in a cell measuring 2m x 2.5m with 13 other people, 23 hours a day, without access to water. Death row prisoners, including Pete, were subjected to extensive torture by guards. From 2003 onwards, the prison system underwent numerous reforms in this country, drastically curbing cases of torture and emphasising education. The administration now gives prisoners the opportunity to be rehabilitated, to have access to education, to professional training, with a view to their reintegration into society after their release. Despite this relative improvement, the death penalty is still applied in Kenya, with the number of people on death row increasing from 158 to at least 1000 between 2018 and 2020. However, Africa is seen as the next abolitionist continent. In thirty years, the number of retentionist states has fallen from 45 (out of 55 African states) to 10, mostly in East Africa. The most recent abolitions were in Chad in April 2020 and in Malawi in April 2021.

The death penalty is an obstacle to the truth. Pete maintained hope all these years on death row for his wife, the victim of the murder of which he was accused and convicted for. But his pardon did not restore the 18 years of his life that he lost, nor did it reveal the truth about his wife's murder. Since 2015, Pete has been fighting in the Kenyan courts for the truth to be established, so that he and his children can move on. Back in 2007, while still on death row, he set up 'Crime si poa', an organisation that aims to support and provide vocational and civic training to young Kenyans, including children in detention, to prevent them from committing crimes or re-offending. The organisation also provides a resource centre for ex-prisoners where they can begin an activity to start a new life.