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Abigail Mawonde  Herald Correspondent
President Mnangagwa has pardoned thousands of prisoners across the country in a bid to decongest prisons and improve the living conditions of those who remain. This was revealed by Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) Deputy Commissioner-General (Administration) Dr Alford Mashango Dube at a Press conference in Harare yesterday.

“His Excellency the President has in terms of section 112(1)(a), (c) and (d) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe granted amnesty to prisoners as outlined in the following categories;

“Category A — remission of sentence for all convicted female prisoners where a full remission of the remaining period of imprisonment is hereby granted to all female prisoners, regardless of the offence committed, save for those sentenced to life imprisonment.

“Category B — remission of sentence of all juveniles — where full remission of the remaining period of imprisonment is hereby granted to all juvenile prisoners under the age of eighteen years serving terms of imprisonment irrespective of the offences they committed.”

In other categories, prisoners sentenced for a period of 36 months and below, who have served a quarter of their sentences by the date of the Government Gazette dated March 19 have been freed — provided they are not in the “excluded category”.

ZCPS said any habitual criminal serving a term of extended imprisonment; any person previously released on amnesty; any person serving a sentence imposed by a Court Martial; any person, who escaped from lawful custody and is still at large by the date of gazetting the order; and any person convicted of a specified offence — such as murder, treason, rape or any sexual offence, car-jacking, armed robbery among others — were excluded from the proposed amnesty.

All terminally ill prisoners serving long terms irrespective of offences committed will be released. Prisoners aged 60 and above, who would have served one third of their sentences, will be freed save for those sentenced to life imprisonment or death.

All prisoners serving a term of imprisonment at the open prison, as well as prisoners serving a sentence of imprisonment for stock theft, who would have served one third of their sentence by the gazetted date will be set free.

Male prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment before February 28, 1998 and female prisoners sentenced for the same on or before December 31, 2010 will also be released, while commutation of death sentence to life imprisonment will be granted to all prisoners, who have been on death row for 10 years and above.

Physically disabled prisoners — who rely on other persons to be moved around the prison or who make use of their hands to move around the prison — will be released, while an additional one quarter remission of the remaining effective period of imprisonment has been granted to all those prisoners sentenced to imprisonment for a period of more than 36 months and have served at least one third of the effective term of imprisonment.

Dep Comm-Gen Dube said the prisons were housing about 20 000 prisoners, yet their official holding capacity was 17 000, hence a plus or minus 3 000 inmates were scheduled to be released through the amnesty. He said ZCPS was still working on the selection process of those who will benefit from the amnesty based on the criteria set.

Dep Comm-Gen Dr Dube said the Presidential pardon would help decongest the country’s overpopulated prisons. “As ZCPS we applaud the move taken by His Excellency in exercising his prerogative of mercy to some prisoners behind bars,” he said.

“The exercise has not only gone a long way in decongesting our prisons, but has served as a reminder to inmates and society that the purpose of imprisonment is founded on the pretext of reformation than retribution. It is now left to society to ensure that those released reintegrate safely and well in their respective communities.”

Dep Comm-Gen Dube called on the society to be receptive to the pardoned prisoners. He advised beneficiaries of the presidential pardon to respect the amnesty by refraining from crime.