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They suggested the replacement of the death penalty with life imprisonment.
This comes at a time when 55 murderers, one of whom was convicted 13-years-ago, are languishing in prison awaiting execution.
Acting Secretary for Justice and Legal Affairs Mr Maxwell Ranga said relevant documents for the execution of the murderers had been sent to Cabinet for ap

proval, but was yet to act on them.

Mr Ranga suggested that Cabinet could be waiting for the completion of the constitution-making process before acting on the papers.

Addressing a court-reporting workshop in Harare recently, former Attorney-General Mr Sobusa Gula-Ndebele described the death penalty as irrational and extreme.
Mr Gula-Ndebele, a senior partner at Gula-Ndebele and Partners, said the penalty should be scrapped.

“From my experience, I personally feel the death penalty should be scrapped. The penalty is too much. It is extreme and irrational and its irreversibility makes it even worse.
“In Zimbabwe, we should do away with that kind of sentencing. At least life imprisonment would be reasonable.

“The penalty is imposed by human beings who also make mistakes. In a case of wrong conviction, one is executed and even if the truth is later discovered, the penalty cannot be reversed.”
Constitutional lawyer and chairman of the Department of Public Law at the University of Zimbabwe Professor Lovemore Madhuku, described the death penalty as an old method of punishment that has failed to deter would-be murderers.

“The sentence is no longer serving any purpose. It is an old method of punishment that many countries have done away with. When we kill murder convicts, we will be reducing ourselves to the level of those murderers.

“The penalty has not proved to be deterrent enough hence people continue committing heinous offences,” said Prof Madhuku.
A senior partner at Manase and Manase Legal Practitioners, Mr Wellington Pasipanodya, said the penalty was morally unacceptable.

“Morally and ethically, no one should be allowed to take anyone’s life. Death penalty is a drastic measure and the law should always evolve towards civil resolution of issues.
“The best way is to substitute death penalty with life imprisonment,” he said.

The Roman Catholic Church condemned the death penalty, saying it was against their teachings.
Secretary-general for the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Council, Father Fredrick Chiromba, said: “As the Catholic Church, we respect human life as sacred. We teach people in line with the dignity of life and even if one sins, he should not be killed. Life is in God’s hands and no one can determine someone’s death.”

However, some men of the cloth were blowing hot and cold on the issue as they tried to balance forgiveness and justice.
Bishop Naison Shava of the Lutheran Church, who is also the president of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, said: “We preach forgiveness and we also preach justice. From the heavenly points, even the grave sin is forgiven. There is no sin that cannot be forgiven. But it is not an offence to hang a convicted offender. That is mere application of justice,” he said.

Dr Goodwill Shana, founder and president of Word of Life Church said: “We believe in the grace and mercy of God. We are obviously biased towards the sanctity and value of life.
“But at the same time, there are exceptional circumstances where the death penalty is called for,” he said.

Reverend Obadiah Musindo supported the death penalty, saying: “Spiritually, we learn that he who kills with a sword dies with a sword. If a convicted murderer is hanged, it is not a sin before God.
“Although some human rights movements are calling for the removal of the death penalty, we have to consider the feelings of the deceased’s relatives. Spiritually, it is prescribed as a form of punishment for offenders and that is why there was the cross,” he said.

Zimbabwe uses the Roman Dutch Law.