Robbery and robbery with violence: what is the difference and the punishment?
Penal Code · sources read 4 Oct 2026
Robbery is stealing while using or threatening violence against a person or property to get or keep the thing, and carries up to 14 years in jail. If the robber is armed, is with one or more other people, or wounds, beats or strikes anyone, the Penal Code says the sentence is death (robbery with violence).
- Deadline
- 14 days from the order or sentence to enter an appeal (the court can allow a late appeal for good cause).
- Where
- Any police station (emergency: 999, 112 or 911); the case is then heard in court
Steps
- Report a robbery to the police. In an emergency, call 999, 112 or 911.
- If the robber is convicted, the court can order them to pay you compensation for your loss.
- A person convicted by a magistrate's court can appeal to the High Court, within 14 days of the sentence.
Watch out
- In December 2025 the Court of Appeal held that the mandatory death sentence for robbery with violence remains valid; the Supreme Court's Muruatetu ruling was about murder.
- Attempted robbery, assaulting someone intending to steal while using or threatening violence, carries up to 7 years.
- Threats or violence against property, not only people, can make a theft a robbery.
Who this covers
- The rule applies to anyone who steals and, at or just before or after the theft, uses or threatens violence to get or keep the thing or overcome resistance.
Official sources (4)
- Penal Code (Cap. 63) new.kenyalaw.org · read 4 Oct 2026
- Criminal Procedure Code (Cap. 75) new.kenyalaw.org · read 4 Oct 2026
- Kenya Police Service home page kenyapolice.go.ke · read 3 Oct 2026
- Chege v Republic (Criminal Appeal E009 of 2023) [2025] KECA 2181 (KLR) (11 December 2025) new.kenyalaw.org · read 3 Oct 2026