MARONDERA- The majority of residents in Marondera are against the death penalty which they feel
should be abolished for good.
They highlighted their views at a Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs outreach meeting held at
Mbuya Nehanda hall in Dombotombo last week.
The meeting, as in all parts of the country, was conducted to gauge their views on the death penalty.
In their submissions, most of them were of the view that capital punishment should be banished in
the countrys courts as they deemed it inhumane.
Marvellous Makoni said the bad part of it could be the erratic sentencing of purported offenders.
We have many people who are serving jail sentences for crimes that they did not commit and just
imagine the pain of one who can be wrongly convicted and sentenced to death.
I think the death penalty should be abolished completely and the convicts of heinous crimes should
just spend their lives in prison, he said.
Langton Moyo was of the same view and further opined that the death penalty must be abolished as
it is a violation of human rights.
He said: Everyone on earth has a right to life and even if one commits a serious, they should not be
condemned to execution.
To an extent, sentencing offenders to the death penalty will, in a way, give some people the right to
determine whether one should die or not, thereby infringing their right to life.
Another resident, Lucy Marumha also said the death penalty could see innocent people being
prosecuted and sentenced to such.
In the meantime, there were others who felt the death penalty should be upheld in order to deter
would-be offenders from committing horrendous crimes.
The death penalty must be upheld because people will end up killing each other fully knowing that
they, in turn, will not be sentenced to death.
Those who kill others must know that they will also be killed and that is deterrent enough for them
from committing crimes of passion, Aaroan Zharima said.
When she addressed residents during the meeting, justice ministry principal law officer Debra
Machamire said views from members of the public are key to the proposed legislation around capital
punishment.
“We are here to solicit public views in as far as the death penalty is concerned in Zimbabwe. The
consultations provide a platform to heighten public participation and awareness, she said.
The death penalty is regarded as the killing of a person convicted of murder committed in
aggravating circumstances.
Since 2005, there has not been an execution in Zimbabwe and that means there is a de facto
moratorium on the death sentence for nearly 18 years.
