The Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, 2024 (National Assembly Bills No. 53)
The principal object of this Bill is to amend the Penal Code to delete section 266. The proposed amendment will decriminalize suicide and enable attempted suicide to be seen as a serious problem requiring mental health interventions and not be treated as a criminal offence. Reducing the global suicide rate by one third by 2030 is a target of both the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the World Health Organization (WHO) global Mental Health Action…
From the Bill’s Memorandum of Objects and Reasons (OCR extract).
Legislative progress
Introduced / Published: 1 Feb 2025
- ○ First Reading
- ○ Second Reading
- ○ Committee of the Whole House
- ○ Third Reading
- ○ Presidential Assent
Current status: [Bills Tracker NA Bill No. 53 of 2024] 29/11/2024 | 12/12/2024 | 211 | 04/06/2025 | 10/06/2026; 24/06/2026 (ongoing)
Stage dates are back-filled from publication records and Hansard, and refined by editors. Some dates may be approximate or not yet recorded.
Sponsor
Orange Democratic Movement · Mathare Constituency
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Notes
Source: https://www.parliament.go.ke/sites/default/files/2025-02/THE%20PENAL%20CODE%20%28AMENDMENT%29%20BILL%2C%202024%20%28NATIONAL%20ASSEMBLY%20BILLS%20NO.%2053%29.pdf
The Bill (PDF)
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Original document, hosted by Mzalendo. Source: parliament.go.ke.
Bill text
Read the Bill (OCR extract)
SPECIALISSUE
Kenya Gazette Supplement No.211 (National Assembly Bills No.53)
REPUBLIC OFKENYA
KENYA GAZETTE SUPPLEMENT
NATIONALASSEMBLYBILLS,2024
NAIROBI,29thNovember,2024
CONTENT
Bill for Introduction into the National Assembly-
The Penal Code (Aimendment)) Bill,2024
PAGE
1103
MEMORANDUM OF OBJECTS AND REASONS
The principal object of this Bill is to amend the Penal Code to delete
section 266. The proposed amendment will decriminalize suicide and enable attempted suicide to be seen as a serious problem requiring mental health interventions and not be treated as a criminal offence.
Reducing the global suicide rate by one third by 2030 is a target of
both the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the World Health Organization (WHO) global Mental Health Action Plan. Various countries have committed to taking measures in this direction.
TheWorld HealthOrganization (WHO)policybriefon decriminalization of suicide provides that an impediment to meeting this goal is the fact that suicide and suicide attempts remain illegal in at least twenty three countries worldwide.Decriminalization of suicide and suicide attempts represents one critical step governments can take in their efforts to prevent suicide. Further, criminalizing suicide will not prevent people from acting on suicidal thoughts,it simply stops them from reaching out and seeking help in times of acute crisis.
Statement on the delegation of legislative powers and limitation offundamental rights and freedoms
This Bill does not delegate legislative powers nor does it limit
fundamental rights and freedoms.
Statement of how the Bill concerns county governments
The Bill does not affect the functions of County governments as set out in the Fourth Schedule to the Constitution and is therefore not a Bill concerning county governments.
Statement as to whether the Bill is a money Bill within the
meaning of Article 114 of the Constitution
The enactment of this Bill shall not occasion additional expenditure
ofpublic funds.
Dated the28th November,2024.
Section 226of Cap 63which it isproposed to amend-
226.Attempting suicide
Any person who attempts to kill himself is guilty ofa misdemeanour.
Machine-extracted text (Docling (OCR + layout), extracted 2 Jul 2026) from a scanned document — may contain recognition errors.
Source: parliament.go.ke (parliament.go.ke active listing). Last updated 3 Jul 2026.