As a means of “declogging” jails that presently house more than 22,000 inmates, President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday exercised executive mercy and freed a variety of convicts incarcerated for a variety of non-violent offences as long as they had completed at least one-third of their sentence by Independence Day last month.

The clemency ruling disqualifies a number of inmates, primarily dangerous offenders and men serving sentences of more than four years, but more women, adolescents, inmates with terminal diseases, and inmates over 60 are eligible.

Some males serving longer terms of imprisonment may have their sentences reduced, and some excluded violent inmates may be released after serving at least three-quarters of their actual sentence, but not all.