Prison inmates who have been on death row for long in Zimbabwe, are now waiting to die because executioners have not been found in the country.
There has been no execution in the country since 2005, and according to the Death Penalty Database, the official method of executing prisoners is hanging, although there is mounting pressure for the death penalty to be abolished altogether.
While the government of Zimbabwe has failed to find executioners since the last one retired in 2006, however a new report alleges that the Justice Ministry in Zimbabwe advertised for the post. But despite 50 people applying, no executioner has been appointed.
Prisons Deputy Commissioner Human Resources Fadzayi Mupure who spoke to newsmen, said that death Row inmates live in the same conditions as other prisoners. Though President Emmerson Mnangagwa who has been a vocal opponent of the death penalty commuted the sentences of 16 inmates, a report published in The Conversation found that 80% of people said they would accept it if the government abolished the death penalty.
