Zimbabwe has officially eliminated the death penalty, nearly twenty years after the last execution occurred in the nation.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa sanctioned the legislation following a cabinet decision in June to abolish capital punishment, according to Chief Secretary to the Cabinet Martin Rushwaya in a recent government announcement.
“No court shall impose the death penalty on any individual for any offense, irrespective of when it was committed; instead, appropriate alternative sentences shall be given based on the case’s specific circumstances,” as detailed in an act published in the official Government Gazette.
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Read: Zimbabwe abolishes death penalty 19 years after last execution [Feb 2024]
President Mnangagwa, who was sentenced to death by the former Prime Minister Ian Smith’s white-minority administration during Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle, has been a fervent opponent of capital punishment.
With this decision, Zimbabwe joins over two-thirds of nations globally that have either legally abolished the death penalty or do not practice it.
At present, there are 65 inmates on death row in Zimbabwe, with the final execution occurring in 2005.
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