The Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, (National Assembly Bill No. 53 of 2024) has been introduced in the National Assembly.

The principal object of this Bill is to amend the Penal Code to delete section 266.

Sponsored by Hon. Anthony Oluoch, 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.

The World Health Organization (WHO) policy brief on 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.