12 death row inmates receive new sentences afer abolishment of capital punishment in Zim

Harare – TWELVE former death row inmates have last week been resentenced,Express Mail Zim can report.

The High Court decision follows Zimbabwe’s landmark decision to abolish the death penalty.

This development is part of an ongoing review involving 39 prisoners, whose original death sentences are being reconsidered in line with the country’s new legal stance.

The resentenced individuals include one Bernard Mazhandu Mucheka from Harare.

Macheka had been sentenced to death in 2023 after killing his ex-girlfriend and her three daughters by setting their house on fire in a crime of passion.

He will now serve four life sentences for the murders and four more for attempted murder.

The incident occurred in April 2013 in Epworth. Mucheka attacked Lorraine Mtetwa (40), who had ended their relationship after discovering he was already married.

In retaliation, he arrived at her home on the night of April 20 with five litres of petrol, broke a bedroom window, and ignited the room where Mtetwa and her children were sleeping. Several people were injured in the inferno.

Mtetwa died days later at Sally Mugabe Central Hospital, and her daughters — Colleta Gohodza (17), Shamiso (16), and Rutendo Mukarati (12) — succumbed to their injuries a few days after.

Guests who were present during the attack were also harmed, leading to further charges of attempted murder against Mucheka.

Another inmate, Bernard Chivenga, a schoolteacher, was convicted of raping a 14-year-old student and murdering her while on bail in an attempt to eliminate evidence. Justice Happias Zhou resentenced him to life imprisonment.

In the Midlands province, brothers Freddy Dube and Thinkwell Moyo were given life sentences for killing a taxi driver in Bulawayo and a store owner in Inyathi during a 2018 robbery that netted goods worth over US$6,000.

Justice Nicholas Mathonsi also handed down a 30-year sentence to Garikai Zvawanda Tabarinda of Old Ascot, Gweru, for the murders of his ex-girlfriend Nancy Sibanda and her cousin Cynthia Hlabangana. He had enlisted accomplice Itai Manyoka to drive him to the victims’ home, where he used nine litres of petrol to set their bedroom on fire.

Both women sustained severe burns — 60% for Sibanda and 55% for Hlabangana — and died two days later.

Manyoka, who waited in the vehicle, was found guilty as an accessory and sentenced to 15 years.

Additional resentenced inmates include Themba Moyo (28 years), Emmanuel Mapfumo (30 years), and Patrick Mutikiti (35 years).

The Judicial Service Commission reports that 12 out of the 39 resentencing cases have been concluded so far, with 27 still awaiting review.

Zimbabwe’s abolished the death penalty in 2024.

However, the country had not carried out any executions since 2005, but courts had continued to impose death sentences.

This legislation followed years of advocacy by civil society groups, legal professionals, and international human rights organizations.

It also echoes President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s long-standing opposition to capital punishment having been a victim himself at the age of 19 during liberation struggle but was saved by his age.