{{Malawians still want the death penalty to be imposed on capital offences such as murder, treason and armed robbery, but the government scrapped mandatory death penalty in the Penal Code in 2011, Attorney General Anthony Kamanga disclosed on Tuesday.}}
Speaking in an interview after the opening of the seminar for lawyers on sentencing in capital offences in Lilongwe, Kamanga said even though no convict has been executed in Malawi ever since president Bakili Muluzi suspended it in 1994, it would remain in the statutes because of wishes of the people.
Kamanga disclosed that during consultation on the constitutional review in 2006, the Malawi Law Commission found that the majority wanted the death penalty retained in the laws of Malawi.
“This is a very emotive issue and I think debate has to continue. The death penalty has been retained to comply with the wishes of the people but implementing rested in the hands of other authorities like the president and these exercised clemency by commuting the sentence,” he said.
In 2007, some prisoners, Francis Kafantayeni and others successfully challenged the constitutionality of the death penalty in the High Court on the grounds that mandatory death penalty violated their right to life and right to fair trial and human dignity.
Kamanga said it was a result of the High Court ruling that the Penal Code was amended in 2011 to abolish mandatory death to give judges discretion to mete out a lesser sentence depending on the nature of the crime.
But in his speech originally prepared for the Minister of Justice Ralph Kasambara, Kamanga said abolition of mandatory death penalty raised questions such as when the death penalty could be imposed and under what sort of circumstances but also the position of prisoners presently on death row.
He asked participants to the seminar to consider these questions during their discussions while learning other jurisdictions.
Death Penalty Project co-executive director Parvais Jabbar said the developments on the death penalty in Malawi was an indication of emerging commonality of legal systems in the world and some like Malawi, Kenya and Uganda were grappling with the introduction of discretion in capital offenses.
Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) chairperson Sophie Kalinde said the commission brought together lawyers from private practice and government on issues to be considered so that the right to life is maintained.
The Daily Times
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