Zimbabwe’s President Mnangagwa Takes Bold Step: Abolishment of the Death Penalty Becomes Law

Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa has sanctioned a legislation that eliminates the death sentence in the southern African nation with immediate effect.

Human rights organization Amnesty commended the choice as a “beacon of hope for the abolitionist cause in the region,” but lamented that the death penalty could be reinstated during a state of emergency.

Mnangagwa’s action follows a vote by Zimbabwe’s parliament earlier in December to abolish the death penalty.

The last execution by hanging in Zimbabwe occurred in 2005, yet its judiciary continued to impose the death sentence for grave offenses such as murder.

Amnesty reported that approximately 60 individuals were on death row at the close of 2023.

They will face re-sentencing by the judiciary, with judges instructed to contemplate the nature of their offenses, the duration spent on death row, and their personal situations, as reported by the state-owned Herald newspaper.

Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi stated that the elimination of the death penalty was “more than a legal change; it signifies our commitment to justice and humanity”.

The death sentence was instituted in what is now Zimbabwe during the era of British colonial dominance.

Mnangagwa has long opposed capital punishment, referencing his own experience of being condemned to death in the 1960s for detonating a train during the war for independence.

His sentence was subsequently reduced to a 10-year prison term.

The Death Penalty Abolition Act was published in the governmental gazette on Tuesday after Mnangagwa endorsed it into law.

Amnesty asserted that this action represented not just “significant advancement” for Zimbabwe but also a “crucial milestone” in global endeavors to abolish “this ultimate cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment”.

It urged the Zimbabwean government to “retract the clause included in the amendments to the Bill permitting the application of the death penalty throughout any state of public emergency”.

Mnangagwa’s Zanu-PF party has governed Zimbabwe since its independence in 1980.

It has been consistently accused by opposition and rights organizations of ruling with an iron hand to retain power.

Globally, according to Amnesty, 113 nations, including 24 in Africa, have completely abolished the death penalty.

The five countries with the highest number of executions in 2023 were China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and the USA, the rights organization added.