Two women apply to hang men

Two women are among applicants for the vacant post of public executioner with the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Permanent Secretary, Mrs Virginia Mabiza has said.

If one of them gets the job, she would be hanging men only from the list of 66 inmates on death row.

Under Section 48 (2) of the Constitution, capital punishment for murder committed in aggravating circumstances is limited to males aged between 21 and 70 years.

The hangman’s job has been vacant for years with the last executions carried out in 2005 when notorious armed robbers Stephen Chidhumo and Edgar Masendeke were hanged.

Government has previously said there were no applicants for the job.

However Mrs Mabiza has revealed that Government has a de facto moratorium on executions and is in discussions with stakeholders to consider abolishing the death sentence

“In the past, we have been overwhelmed with applications for the post of hangman, but, because of the de facto moratorium that we have had for more than a decade, it has not been necessary to employ anyone.

“At the moment, it (the hangman’s post) is not an issue because the real discussion is centred around the abolition of the death penalty,” Mrs Mabiza said.

Female executioners in history from around the world include Nisreen Mansour al Forgani of Libya, Marie Rege of Belgium, Lady Betty of Ireland and Jeanne Woodford of the US.