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Herald Reporter
Zimbabweans should not abuse the Constitutional provision that guarantees the right to life as they may end up committing acts warranting the death penalty while thinking that they are protected by the law, a Cabinet Minister has said.In a paper on Zimbabwe’s Constitution to students doing Junior Staff Course Number 27 at the Zimbabwe Staff College in Harare yesterday, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa said 97 inmates were on death row.
“I want to qualify the right to life by saying that although the Constitution guarantees you the right to life there are acts which if committed by a person you may lose (your) life. When such acts are done you cannot plead that there is a provision which guarantees you right to life and this is why we have 97 inmates under the death penalty in the country.
“As long as you observe other laws by the same State which are designed to ensure the people of this country live in harmony, if you jeopardise that harmony the same people have laws to dispatch you from among themselves,” he said.
He said the new supreme law disallowed execution of children, women and those above 70-years-old. Minister Mnangagwa also said Government’s economic blueprint, Zim-Asset, sought to fulfil the Constitutional provision to take appropriate measures for indigenisation and empowerment.
“You may assume to be rich but you will be ideologically poor if you are not in control of your resources. You are a laughing stock among the community of nations because a nation is identified by its territory and resources it controls. The reason why we talk about indigenisation is because it is reflective of our history,” he said.
“This country has gone through a period when the nation’s resources, assets and sovereign authority were removed forcefully from us and through the armed struggle we gained political authority. We are now endeavouring to establish the authority of the people over and above their resources.”
He said the five independent commissions created by the new Constitution would soon be operational. These are the Zimbabwe Electoral, Zimbabwe Human Rights, Zimbabwe Gender, Zimbabwe Media and the National Peace and Reconciliation commissions.
“Some of the Commissions are already functioning while others are still in the process of setting up house and conducting interviews for the secretariat. The independent commissions have power to employ staff and subject to law, regulate their conditions of service.
“These commissions should be independent and not subject to the direction or control of anyone,” said Minister Mnangagwa.
He said the separation of Attorney-General’s Office and the National Prosecuting Authority had enhanced the independence of the latter.
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