Public hearings on the Death Penalty Abolition Bill, which was gazetted last year, will take place in Parliament next week. The proposed legislation, a private member’s bill, is led by politician Edwin Mushoriwa of Dzivarasekwa and intends to change the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act as well as the Criminal Law Code.
The Senate’s Thematic Committee on Human Rights and the National Assembly’s Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal, and Parliamentary Affairs will supervise the hearings. The sessions are slated to take place in a number of places, including Kadoma, Gweru, Bulawayo, Lupane, Filabusi, Bindura, Harare, Marondera, Mutare, and Masvingo, between May 6 and May 10.
The government’s confirmation of support in February suggests that the Bill will soon pass Parliament.
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In another story, 63 Inmates Spared from Death Penalty
Approximately 63 inmates, convicted of crimes ranging from murder and beyond, are set to have their sentences commuted to life imprisonment. This decision follows the introduction of a proposed law to Parliament by Edwin Mushoriwa, a Member of Parliament for Dzivarasekwa under the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), through a Private Members Bill.
The Government has officially gazetted the bill after it successfully passed through both the lower and upper houses of Parliament. Notably, Zimbabwe’s last execution took place in 2005, and since then, 61 inmates have awaited their fate on death row until recently when two murderers, sentenced by Judge Justice Munamato Mutevedzi for the killing of Tapiwa Makore, faced the death penalty…read in ful
