By Political Reporter- Over 65 prisoners facing the death penalty have escaped the gallows after the Government Tuesday abolished the death penalty.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa signed the Death Penalty Abolition Bill into law before he commenced his annual leave yesterday, effectively marking the end of capital punishment in the country’s legal statutes.

At least 65 convicts are facing the gallows in the country’s two maximum Prisons, Chikurubi and Khami, respectively.

Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Dr Martin Rushwaya, made the announcement in an Extraordinary Government Gazette published yesterday.
“The following laws, which were assented to by His Excellency the President, are published in terms of section 131(6)(a) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe—Death Penalty Abolition Act [Chapter 9:26] (No. 4 of 2024),” reads the notice.

The Government’s decision to expunge the death penalty will see the country moving with international trends and best practices, as capital punishment has since been regarded as inhumane.

The Bill was initially introduced by Dzivaresekwa, a member of parliament, Mr Edwin Mushoriwa, before the government took over, given its importance.
Following the gazetting of the Act, a person convicted of murder in aggravating circumstances shall be liable to a jail term of between 20 years and life imprisonment.
In abolishing the death penalty, Clause Two of the Act reads as follows: “No court shall impose sentence of death upon a person for any offence, whenever committed, but instead shall impose whatever other competent sentence is appropriate in the circumstances of the  case.
“The Supreme Court shall not confirm a sentence of death imposed upon an appellant, whenever that sentence may have been imposed, but instead shall substitute whatever other competent sentence is appropriate in the circumstances of the case, no sentence of death, whenever imposed, shall be carried out.”