Mnangagwa Releases 3000 Prisoners

Reports suggest President Emmerson Mnangagwa has granted amnesty to 3000 inmates.

Those that qualify for the Presidential Amnesty are female prisoners irrespective of offenses committed save for those sentenced to death, juveniles below 18 years who were sentenced to 3 yrs and below as well as all terminally ill prisoners saving terms at the Open Prison. 

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Speaking at the handover ceremony of a 30-tonne sugar donation by Tongaat Hullet in February this year, Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) Commissioner-General Paradzai Zimondi, confirmed President Emmerson Mnangagwa had approved the release of inmates serving light sentences or experiencing health challenges.

In January this year, Minister of Justice, Parliamentary and Legal Affairs Ziyambi Ziyambi told The Chronicle that he wants President Mnangagwa to pardon 2 000 prisoners to ease congestion in Zimbabwe’s prisons. He said that the release of prisoners is a priority in his ministry’s 100 day plan. Prisoners are released on amnesty in terms of section 112 (1)(a) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. 

Mnangagwa also released MDC-T  activist Yvonne Musarurwa from Chikurubi Female Prison. Musarurwa together with Tungamirai Madzokere, Phineas Nhatarikwa and Last Maengahama were convicted of the murder Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Inspector Petros Mutedzi. Madzokere, Musarurwa and Maengahama were sentenced to 20 years in jail each by Justice Chinembiri Bhunu, despite the fact that Musarurwa was not present when the crime was committed. Musarurwa was released together with Madzokore and Mangahama.