President Hakainde Hichilema has taken a step towards upholding human rights by commuting the death sentences of 390 inmates to life imprisonment. The decision, which was announced by the Home Affairs and Internal Security Minister, Jack Mwiimbu, is in line with the UPND administration’s commitment to preserving life and upholding human rights.
Pursuant to article 97 of the Constitution of Zambia, the President has the power to grant pardons and substitute severe punishments imposed on convicted persons. The move to commute the death sentences of 390 inmates, all of whom are housed in the Mukobeko Male and Female Maximum Security Prisons, comes just a month after the President signed into law the penal code amendment bill, which abolished the imposition of the death penalty.
Minister Mwiimbu highlighted the government’s commitment to enhancing the criminal justice system by working closely with all stakeholders, including the judiciary. He also expressed hope that the judiciary will explore alternative sentencing mechanisms for minor cases, in an effort to address the congestion in the country’s correctional facilities.
Zambia has a long history of using the death penalty, with 406 people being sentenced to death between 1964 and 1978, and another 140 remaining on death row by the 1980s. With this latest move, Zambia becomes the fifth sub-Saharan African nation to abolish the death penalty in the past decade.
President Hichilema’s act of mercy and commitment to human rights is a positive step towards a fairer and more just society.
Upnd thugs pardoned
Yeah …. we are waiting for you to go in then we bring back death penalty.
Hope we will have a budget to look after them
You devilish sausage. I will kill you before you kill me
ALL THESE ARE PF THUGS WHO HAVE BEEN THERE AGES
THE ONLY WAY IS TO BAN PF FROM THE HISTORY BOOKS SO WE CAN MOVE FORWARD
Hh can never pardon pf supporters you sausage
I always oppose HH because thefts history which left my beloved Mufulira in pain and eating soep made cooking eyes from goats. This time he has shown his belief rather than that Congolese migrant called Frederick Chiluba who ordered the execution of 15 inmates upon entering office. Thou shall not kill. Kaizar Zulu must visit my house so that I can teach him to read the bible. Instead waisting time drinking and urinating in public.
Since 1992 no president has sanctioned the execution of a condemned prisoner. The large numbers explain it all.
Nii Grade Flii uyu KZ, he wont be able to understand. He was just playing cards at state house for the PF government. Do you remember anything he did or said about Zambian government when he said. All the thugs like him are out of state house.
Samuel comtinue worshiping your whlte god there abroad. They have brainwashed you. I believe in our own african tradition and pray to a black God.
Kabola you are just a cow. You claim i am a grade three yet I went on to serve the highest office of the land whilst you are there scratching your smelly backside
This is what’s supposed to be done instead of abolishing the death penalty
But you cant pardon all before abolishing the death penalty, do you understand?
@Kabola seems you don’t know anything. Presidents have been commuting death sentences all along. Your president is not the first one to do so. That’s why we’re in trouble..we have too much ignorance in the country.
Very soon these murders will be released and set free to roam in the streets. Those families that lost loved ones will still be crying
THERE GO OUR TAXES AGAIN SUPPORTING THESE CRIMINALS
Going where? These are prisoners, you have been feeding them some of them for over 20 years
This act will come back to haunt the nation, the clock is ticking, and we shall cry uncontrollably. What a callous advise from Jack Mwiimbu to the president!
kkkkkk all those on death role from kk to past presidents to now no one has been excuted apart from dying in prison,meaning it is not death sentence pay say but life imprisonment,if one argues then let him produce evindence.
You are right and nobody will argue.
Listen to these deplorables, commuting death sentence does not mean that these lags Will be freed. They are in jail for life. It is even worse than death sentence. It is some sort of refined cruelty! Punishment till you die!