Susan Kigula
From Death Row to Transforming Uganda’s Justice System
Convicted of murder and sentenced to a mandatory death penalty in 2002, Susan Kigula spent years on death row in Luzira Women’s Prison, denied the chance to speak, to mitigate, or to hope. Inside, she began studying law through Justice Defenders’ University of London programme and became the lead petitioner in the case Susan Kigula and 416 Others v Attorney General, which challenged Uganda’s automatic death sentence for capital offences.
The Constitutional Court held that the mandatory death penalty violated fundamental rights because it denied individualised sentencing, and that carrying out an execution after more than three years was unconstitutional due to the cruelty of prolonged psychological distress. The ruling required the government to resentence everyone on death row, opening the door for hundreds to receive reduced sentences and eventual release.
On appeal, the Supreme Court affirmed the unconstitutionality of the mandatory death sentence and the three-year delay rule while confirming that the death penalty itself remains permissible. The decision reshaped capital sentencing around dignity, due process, and case-by-case justice, and established standards that continue to guide Uganda’s courts and corrections system. It has since influenced similar challenges in other jurisdictions, including Kenya.
Susan was released in 2016 and now serves as a Justice Defenders ambassador, helping to build legal offices and train paralegals in Uganda and Kenya. Her journey from condemned prisoner to international advocate shows what becomes possible when those closest to injustice are equipped to lead reform.
