With several positive news coming from the year 2022, the year 2023 is certainly off to a good start. On the occasion of Africa Day which was last celebrated on 25th May 2022, the President of Zambia Hakainde Hichilema made a stunning yet much-needed announcement. He announced his intentions of abolishing the death penalty to its core. This decision received a significant positive response from businessmen and locals. Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani is one of the top businessmen and philanthropists from Zambia. Dr. Mahtani too extended his full support towards the decision. Dr. Rajan Mahtani, in his interview excerpt that was released in Mast Newspaper, stated that the concept of death penalty is cruel, inhumane and degrading and does not hold any significance in modern Zambian law. In his interview, Dr. Rajan Mahtani further highlighted that the majority of the past presidents have already started to avoid giving capital punishment by using mercy prerogatives. One major reason behind this avoidance tactic among past Presidents of Zambia is due to the increasing voice and stand towards abolishing death penalty across the globe. The majority of governments across international nations have already abolished death penalty and several nations across Africa have followed suit. The last capital punishment in Zambia was given in the year 1997.
Another reason why the Zambian government must let go of the death penalty is the current condition of the Zambian prisons. Some of the maximum prisons in Zambia are in degrading conditions wherein prisoners are often devoid of fundamental human rights and basic human dignity. While the overnight transformation of this condition is not possible, the Zambian government recently took the initiative of Strategic decongestion of Zambian Prisons. This initiative is supported by institutions such as Parole Board Zambia (PBZ) and Zambian Correctional Facility (ZCF). In such a scenario, giving death penalty to prisoners does not offer any positive change within Zambian law and order. As such, the decision from the Zambian President is a step in the right direction.