The county of Zimbabwe has eighty-one prisoners in custody that are on death row and are awaiting execution. Some of the prisoners have been waiting for the penalty for over ten years now. The last execution was held in 2005 by hanging. In Zimbabwe a single person is in charge of carrying out the act. This person is known as the hangman. The last hangman in Zimbabwe retired in 2006 and the government has not found another person to fill this role yet. The justice ministry told the media that there have been half a hundred applications for the new handman but no one has been picked yet.
The prisoners in Zimbabwe live in the same conditions as the prisoners that get life in prison. However, it’s inhumane to give someone the death penalty and not tell them when the date of there execution is. I don’t know why Zimbabwe only has one single person that can carry out the executions. The stress that the prisoners must face not knowing when there last day is must be unbearable. Personally I agree with the death penalty because it cost so much money in taxpayer money to keep someone in prison for life. However, the act they commit must be worth death and I believe they should get to know when it’s going down.
The prisoners in Zimbabwe have the right to appeal their sentence. If this appeal is unsuccessful then they also have the right to ask the president for a pardon. At the beginning of this year president Emmerson Mnangagwa reduced multiple prisoners sentenced to life in prison including some the people who have been waiting for over ten years. It’s against the law in Zimbabwe to sentence women, people under 21, and people over 70 to the death penalty.