Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. President Emmerson Mnangagwa has officially signed the Death Penalty Abolition Bill into law, marking a significant milestone, 19 years after Zimbabwe executed its last prisoner.
This landmark legislation passed through Parliament last month and is poised to spare numerous convicts from the gallows.
Those currently on death row will have their sentences reviewed, with judges instructed to take into account the nature of their crimes, the duration they have spent awaiting execution, and their individual circumstances.
The announcement was made by Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Martin Rushwaya, in an Extraordinary Government Gazette published on Tuesday. The notice reads:
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)…
Mnangagwa, who himself was sentenced to death by former Prime Minister Ian Smith’s White-minority government during Zimbabwe’s war for independence, has long been a staunch opponent of capital punishment.
In the 1960s, he received a death sentence for blowing up a train during the guerrilla struggle, but his sentence was later commuted to 10 years in prison.
With the signing of the Death Penalty Abolition Bill, Zimbabwe now joins more than two-thirds of the world’s nations that have abolished the death penalty in law or practice.
Currently, the country has 65 prisoners on death row, with the last execution carried out in 2005.
The Bill was initially introduced by Edwin Mushoriwa (CCC), the Member of Parliament for Dzivaresekwa before the Government took over its advancement due to its significant implications.
Following the gazetting of the Act, individuals convicted of murder under aggravating circumstances will now face a prison sentence ranging from 20 years to life imprisonment. Clause Two of the Act states:
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.
Rights group Amnesty International hailed the decision as a “beacon of hope for the abolitionist movement in the region”, but expressed regret that the death penalty could be reinstated during a state of emergency.
Other laws that the president assented to and published in yesterday’s Gazette include the Appropriation (2025) Act and the Finance (No. 2) Act, which seeks to give legal effect to various fiscal measures announced by Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister Mthuli Ncube in his 2025 National Budget.
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