Mnangagwa rekindles call for abolition of death penalty

Acting President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday rekindled his call for the abolition of the death penalty, saying those insisting that it be maintained need divine intervention.

The Constitution bars capital punishment for women, but men aged below 21 and 70 can be sentenced to death.

Addressing a constitutional advocacy meeting in Bulawayo, Mnangagwa said Zimbabweans must continue advocating for capital punishment to be struck off the country's statutes.

Mnangagwa has been at the forefront of the campaign against capital punishment after he faced the hangman's noose during the liberation struggle under the Rhodesian regime.

The push to abolish capital punishment is now at the Constitutional Court where Tendai Biti, who is representing death row inmates, seeks the court's intervention to drop the death penalty. The case will be heard at the Constitutional Court on September 28.