Former Kenya death row prisoner gets law degree

A former death row inmate in Kenya has expressed his joy at having graduated with a law degree from the University of London. William Okumu, one of several inmates or former inmates who graduated at a ceremony at the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison in Nairobi, told the BBC that ‘I think the whole world now knows that something good can come out of trash’. Okumu, who was released in May after serving a 10-year jail term for armed robbery, said the degree had changed his life. He said his motivation to pursue law was through his realisation that his sentence had been due to his lack of a proper understanding of the law. He was assisted by the African Prisons Project, a charity which helps prisoners get access to justice.