Harare residents want death penalty abolished

Harare, (New Ziana)-Harare residents on Tuesday unanimously supported the abolition of the death penalty in Zimbabwe saying offenders should get a chance for rehabilitation and correction.

During a public hearing held in the high-density suburb of Mbare to gather views on the Death Penalty Abolition Bill, most residents who contributed said the country should expunge the punishment from the Constitution.

“I agree with the Bill for the abolition of the death penalty because as much as murderers should be punished, the death penalty is heavily flawed. It is applied to average men only,” said Genius Mutete.

Angela Munyai supported the abolition arguing that offenders should be given a second chance through rehabilitation and correction.

Another participant said the death penalty should be abolished in line with international treaties which Zimbabwe is a party to.

“The death penalty should be done away with,” he said.

“Practically we have gone for over ten years since the last execution so the death penalty must go because it goes against the principles of justice,” said Benhilda Manyame.

Chair of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Energy Mutodi said the contributions from Mbare were unanimous that they want the death penalty to be expunged.

“We have 100 percent respondents in support of the bill so it means at Mbare, you want the death penalty to be expunged from the constitution; you don’t want capital punishment to be imposed anymore,” he said.

As it is aptly named, the Death Penalty Abolition Bill seeks to remove the death penalty from the Zimbabwean constitution.

In February this year, the Cabinet agreed to abolish the death penalty for murder offences, almost two decades after the last execution.

Zimbabwe has been on a de facto moratorium on executions for about 17 years with the last having been conducted in 2005 while the vacancy for hangman has not found any takers.

The Constitution maintains the death sentence but excludes women, men under the age of 21, and men over the age of 70 from being sent to the gallows.

At least 62 convicted prisoners are on death row and previously these have had their sentences commuted to life.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has publicly denounced the death penalty after surviving the hangman’s noose on a technicality during the liberation struggle.

New Ziana