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President Mugabe

PRESIDENT Mugabe has reignited debate around the death penalty by calling for the full restoration of the full effects of capital punishment, with all conditions that existed prior to the adoption of the new Constitution in 2013. Speaking during the burial of National Hero Cde Don Muvuti at the national Heroes’ Acre on Wednesday, President Mugabe lamented the sharp increase in murder cases where people were being killed with actual intent and called for an overhaul of the current provisions of the new Constitution which was adopted in 2013 and allows the death penalty with certain variations.

According to Section 48 of the Constitution, the law permits the death penalty only on a person convicted of murder committed in aggravating circumstances, and the law permits the court a discretion of whether or not to impose the penalty. The same section continues to say that death penalty must not be imposed on a person who was less than 21 years old when the offence was committed or who was more than 70 years old.

Further, the death penalty must not be imposed or carried out on a woman and the person sentenced must have a right to seek pardon or commutation of the penalty from the President. Zimbabwe last executed a prisoner on death row in 2005 and since then the country has placed a moratorium on executions as debate around the issue rages on.

Around the world, there is debate around the death penalty with human rights organisations launching a strong lobby for the abolition of the death penalty. There are 97 inmates currently on death row in Zimbabwe and in April, Amnesty International pleaded with the Government to abolish the death penalty. It cited Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia as the three countries in the Sadc region who handed down death sentences last year while Botswana was the only one which actually carried out an execution. While there is a strong case for the abolition of the death penalty, the steep rise in murder cases, particularly those committed in a heinous and brutal murder, has heightened calls for the full restoration of capital punishment.

We have reported several times on these pages, on spine-chilling murders committed by people for the flimsiest of reasons. Judges have also lamented the lack of respect for the sanctity of human life when sentencing cold blooded murderers. We don’t believe in the dictum of “an eye for an eye” but unrepentant cold blooded murderers who kill people violently and show no remorse deserve to be hanged.

There was no public outcry when notorious armed robbers and murderers Stephen Chidhumo and Edgar Masendeke were hanged in 2003 after being on death row for six years.  The duo had gained infamy for terrorising communities where they raped, killed and robbed people of their belongings.

Zimbabweans were satisfied that the two had received their just deserts and deserved to die for their dastardly crimes. Since then the country has witnessed an upsurge in violent crimes committed under aggravating circumstances. The courts have continued to impose the death penalty but no executions have been carried out. For starters, we don’t even have a hangman to carry out the job.

It appears authorities are reluctant to actually resume executions given the outcry they would invite. But the President has set the cat among the pigeons by calling for the full restoration of the death penalty. He said while Zimbabwe was supposed to be a country where people enjoyed peace and tranquility, there was violence and unwarranted killings.

The President said it should not surprise people when in future individuals are sentenced to death and executed for killing others. He said he was running out of patience due to increasing cases of murder of innocent people and these needless killings should stop forthwith. The President’s remarks were informed by the recent chilling murder of a Catholic nun Plaxedes Kamundiya while she was praying at a shrine in Mutoko.

President Mugabe recounted how Sister Kamundiya was murdered, saying such actions called for a re-look at the death penalty with a view to restore its full effects. He said the death penalty must be restored because people were not respecting the sanctity of life. “Is this what we fought for? Today we are burying Don . . . is this what he struggled for in the jungles?” the President said.

We agree with the President that Government needs to review its position regarding the death penalty. We are aware that other countries are asking Zimbabwe to do away with the death penalty on humanitarian grounds but we exhort them to taken into consideration the views and feelings of relatives of victims of murder and other capital crimes.

Zimbabwe is maintaining its present position because there is an appreciation that people have different positions regarding the death penalty. However, the time might have come for the Government to take an unequivocal position on the issue.