Delegates to the three ongoing province constitutional convention have retained article 28 clause (3) which is about the death penalty in the current draft constitution.
Under the current draft constitution, article 28 (3) states that “A person may be deprived of life if that person has been convicted of a capital offence and sentenced to death”.
The same article in clause 3 states that a person shall be deprived of life if that person has been convicted of a capital offence and sentenced to death. This further implies that abortion has also been made illegal.
In Southern province, the death penalty debates, which were yesterday adjourned by Convention Chairperson Solomon Muzyamba after delegates failed to resolve, was decided on by the majority vote of 73 votes from people that wanted it retained against 43 out of the total 123 votes cast.
A total of five delegates abstained from voting.
In Lusaka delegates resolved to retain the death penalty as it is in the draft constitution, with a few delegates expressing counter views.
One of the delegates Father Gabriel Mwanamwele argued that the was precise on the subject, making it clear that no human being has the rights to terminate another’s life.
He said the fact that the country had resolved to retain the Christian nation clause meant that all tenets if Christianity such as the right of life should be upheld.
Fr Mwanamwele said retaining the article would be abrogating the teachings of the bible and the declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation.
But a representative of the Islamic Supreme council of Zambia Huzaifa Jada strong felt that retaining the article to allow the death penalty would act as a deterrent to would-be offenders.
Mr. Jada noted that the article poses no opposition to the declaration of the country as a Christian nation as it secures life for innocent citizens.
In EASTERN Province delegates also upheld the decision of maintaining the death sentence in the constitution, as a way of deterring criminals and other would be killers.
The decision that was heavily debated was decided by a secret ballot after the delegates from the various districts failed to agree.
Chasefu Member of Parliament Chifumu Banda said there was need to maintain the death sentence in the constitution because some people would take advantage of the deletion and go on rampage killing people.
He urged the delegates to be realistic because most criminals would not have any thing to deter them from killing because life in prison would not be fair because there was a possibility of them being pardoned.
Mr Banda said capital punishment should be meted out to people that were found guilty without reason doubt by the courts of law.
“People found guilty of murder by courts of law should be meted with capital punishment as a way of deterring other criminals that claim the lives of innocent people,” he said
And Petauke central MMD Member of Parliament Dora Siliya said countries like South Africa was now facing problems because they had abolished capital punishment.
“Other countries are now regretting because they abolished capital punishment and implemented life in prison because killings have now doubled and committing various atrocities,” she said.
Ms. siliya said even though Zambia was a Christian nation there was need to ensure that laws were put in place in order to protect vulnerable citizens from criminals.
She said abolishing capital punishment and enforcing life imprisonment would disadvantage the state because the criminals had a chance of being pardoned by the president and would go back to torment the society.
Some delegates said it was not fair to claim the life of another individual regardless of the offence because Zambia was a Christian nation.
They said life in prison was better because it made it possible for an individual to repent and change his life lifestyle.
this is some awesome news!! death penalty should not be abolished!! a cold blooded killer must be sent to hell by all means possible! why are we even debating this issue???? u kill someone and then u tell us that urself u wanna live?? please govt employ me as a hung man. napapata!!! the same convicted murderers now pardoned are back at doing what they know best. killin some more people!! and u r busy debating….
Yebo!an eye for an eye. A life for a life!
PF worsting money or distributing economy well with the useless constitution. But at least some people are buying bicycles after the sitting allowances.
Bars are making money from those delegates, even those Catholic priests drink.
First of all, the justice system in any country is not infallible, and innocent people are convicted. When the death penalty exists, innocent people are sentenced to death (look at the U.S. if you need proof). Zambia’s legal system is already overwhelmed, underfunded and unfair as it is, so it’s certain that there are people in prison who are not guilty of the crime they were convicted of (and in fact, 1/3 of the people in there have not been convicted of any crime). Second, the death penalty is not a deterrent and may be a reason behind less respect for human life. Third, it offers no chance of redemption and forgiveness, and it harms another family, another community. Violence only causes more violence.
But life in-prison is much better, two wrongs don’t make it right & thy shall not kill says the bible. #via christian nation
Would you say the same if your child was brutally murdered?
What will it benefit you if his sentenced to death?? the cardinal thing here is the evil act not to be repeated, life in prison is also a solution besides death sentence.
@Candy, You wont get your child back even if you hanged the killer of your child! You are as sick as the killer if you think you are going to get some satisfaction from hanging someone. Life imprisonment is horrible . There’s nothing to enjoy! Its better than hanging. The criminal will suffer for a lifetime. A death sentence is a release from this life and no much pain and anguish for the culprit!
my saticifacation w’dnt be to see the killer die but to know that he wont harm anyone else anymore and that there is no possibilty of him coming back. using the christian nation declaration as a basis for abolishing capital puniment is ununderstandable to say the least……didnt God himself order the isralities to kill witches and wizards, didnt he order soul to completely destroy a city and all its citizens including children and animals and save none? why should one ‘ve the right that he is taking away from others, murderers kill innocent people and the law should keep them and feed them using tax payers money whom these killers would want2 slaughter? its wrong for me as individual to kill for any reason except in self defens but i dont think killing guilt murderers under the law is…
Life imprisonment means my taxpayer’s money will be used to sustain the offender. Now why would I want to help sustain a lowlifer?
THEY SHOULD CHANGE HANGING METHOD AND INSTEAD LEATHAL INJECTIONS SHOULD BE USED SO THE VICTIM DIES HUMANLY IN THEIR SLEEP.LIFE TERM IN JAIL CAN BE VERY EXPENSIVE AS YOU HAVE TO FEED THE MURDERS TWICE A DAY AND PROVIDE MEDICAL FACILITIES WHEN THEY ARE SICK.I MUST STRESS OUT THAT WHEN THE DEATH PENALTY IS GIVEN TO THE CONVICT THE JUDGES SHOULD BE 100%POSITIVE THAT THE CONVICT DID COMMIT THE MURDER SO THAT AN INNOCENT PERSON IS NOT CRUCIFIED. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IS A DETERANT TO OTHER WOULD BE HARD HEARTED KILLERS.
from a birds eye view your argument seems to make sense but statistically and psychologically your argument is unfounded because every punishment should be a deterrent and in fact some people would rather be hanged than go to prison. since deterrence is about scaring would be offenders you should know that the thought of not being caught is what propels one to eventually kill whether or the law of hanging is in effect
from a birds eye view your argument seems to make sense but statistically and psychologically your argument is unfounded because every punishment should be a deterrent and in fact some people would rather be hanged than go to prison. since deterrence is about scaring would be offenders you should know that the thought of not being caught is what propels one to eventually kill whether or not the law of hanging is in effect. Zambia has had that law in effect up to date but still people kill other people??
I guess A.J Ayer was right when he said that some ethical statements are emotive because all those are in favour of the death penalty are merely airing their feelings in hope of sounding intelligent and rational in their efforts to sanction a position that is not morally right let alone wise in this current epoch of history
and dont give me the crap of forgiveness, why have prisons if we can forgive them (murderers and rapists, criminals)? forgiveness is between God and them, my job as a hung man would be to arrange their meeting. someone puts bomb on a train or bus full of people, he’s caught but the bus/train has not been identified yet and its set to blow up in an hour, this criminal cant be totured in order to force him to give the identity of the bus or train cos its against the law, then his lawyer comes and by the time you all get through with the process its too late for innocent souls on that train/bus, what am trying to say here is….today its seems criminals have more rights that anyone else. fack the system that protects them…
life in prisonment nabanani!!! killers have to be killed! why should nurses and doctors waste time on treating sick convicted killers at the expense of law abiding citizens? and in case of a prison break.. the cold blooded killers will strike again??
Death penalty is better than life imprisonment because if you send a killer to prison, he will be fed on food from taxpayers` money; whilst the other party is in the grave. So I suggest that death penalty should be retained by all costs. You people are just against this death penalty because you have not imagined how brutal these criminals become when killing innocent citizens.
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As a christian :I totally disagree with death penalty .How can we call ourself christians if we send someone to be hanged????
I am glad lots of Zambians see sense in retaining the death penalty. The problem is justice system in this world isn’t fair to the victim. You get killed or robbed, your little girl raped, the system further punishes you and rubs it in by making your tax cash sustains the offender and before you know it she/he usually gets amnesty and released. Killers must be killed, immediately, robbers must be made to pay back to the victim many times what they stole and must pay their boarding and food while in prison.
No, no, no! You are just as morally wrong as the offender; it’s saying “He hit me first, so I can hit him back”. I agree, compensation should be paid, but no one should have the authority to kill others. And clearly many bloggers here don’t know anything about the prisons service; inmates provide a lot of the food that is grown in the country. It’s foolish to say a poor person should be made to pay back food and boarding, he can’t so he’ll just be there forever and you won’t make your money back.
how about death penalty for all corrupt politician especially the ones that embezzel public fund for personal use…