By Wezzie Gausi:
Zambia’s Attorney General (AG) Mulilo Kabesha and lawmaker Clement Andeleki have reignited debate on the possibility of Malawi abolishing the death penalty.
The two officials are in the country to discuss issues around the penalty, which their country abolished last year through an amendment of the Penal Code.
In an interview after visiting Zambian High Commission offices in Lilongwe Monday, Kabesha said his country is ready to share notes with Malawi on how it managed to abolish the death penalty.
“I know there are many things surrounding the death penalty but we, as Zambia, managed to abolish the penalty and everyone else is happy.
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“We believe that abolishing the death penalty is one way of upholding human rights [treaties] that most countries in Africa, including Malawi, are signatories to. So our coming here is to meet relevant authorities on the subject and map the way forward,” Kabesha said.
On his part, Andeleki, who was among those who championed the abolishment of the penalty, pointed out that it is high time Malawi took the same route.
He said abolishing the sentence makes it easy for people to be held and granted their right to live.
“I know people would say that after abolishing the penalty, there would be an increase in mob justice cases, but that is not true. We have witnessed peace and nothing of that sort ever since we abolished the penalty in Zambia,” Andeleki said.
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Meanwhile, having already met civil society organisations that are pushing for the abolishment of the penalty, Kabesha and Andeleki are expected meet Malawi AG Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda and Justice Minister Titus Mvalo.
They will also meet Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Kondwani Nankhumwa.
Speaking during commemorations marking World Day against the Death Penalty earlier this month, Mvalo said government is working on an abolition bill which will need to go through all the processes and, then, if approved by Cabinet, be presented to Parliament “soon”.
He described the penalty as inhuman.
The minister reiterated that there is “significant support from people in the country” who want capital punishment to be abolished.
“Government’s stance on the matter has not changed. Each and every day, we want to abolish the death penalty. It is barbaric,” Mvalo said.
While a moratorium on the death penalty has been in place for years, with no president in democratic Malawi having ever sanctioned that a prisoner should be executed, the punishment is still being pronounced by the courts.
In his write-up on the penalty, which was made available to The Daily Times, European Union Ambassador to Malawi Rune Skinnebach said abolishing the penalty is an essential step in the transformation from punitive to restorative justice.
He said this allows for both the rights of victims to be respected and the right to legitimate hope of persons deprived of their liberty to be recognised.
“Fortunately, the world continues to move away from the death penalty, with more than two thirds of the world’s countries having abolished capital punishment in either law or practice.
“Zambia was among the four countries that took the step to abolish the death penalty in 2022. It joined the group of 44 African countries which have either fully abolished the death penalty (26), or allow it only in very exceptional circumstances (16),” Skinnebach said.
Reprieve, a non-profit organisation of international lawyers and investigators which fights for victims of extreme human rights abuses with legal action and public education, is among those that have been pushing for the abolition of the death penalty.
A fellow at the organisation, Alexious Kamangila, yesterday described the penalty not only as inhuman but that it also serves no purpose.
“The death penalty should, and will, be abolished in Malawi. For Africa, in 10 years, all countries will abolish the death penalty and Africa will be the second continent to abolish the death penalty,” Kamangila said.
President Lazarus Chakwera commuted to life imprisonment the remaining death sentences of prisoners who were on death row.
