By Norman Mwale
Zimbabwe could reconsider capital punishment for major drug traffickers if tougher sentences, including life imprisonment, fail to curb the country’s growing illicit drug trade, prosecutor-general Loice Matanda-Moyo has warned.
Matanda-Moyo said the government may have to revisit the issue if stiffer penalties fail to deter people involved in large-scale drug trafficking.
Her remarks come amid intensified efforts by authorities to combat drug and substance abuse, which has increasingly become a national concern.
The prosecutor-general told the media that drug trafficking was becoming a serious threat to communities and that the effects extended beyond drug users to families and the wider economy.
She said major traffickers could face the harshest penalties available under the law, including life imprisonment, before any consideration of capital punishment.
Zimbabwe abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes under the Death Penalty Abolition Act signed into law in December 2024. The legislation ended the imposition of death sentences in ordinary circumstances and provided for the resentencing of people who had been on death row.
However, the law retained a narrow provision allowing capital punishment during a declared public emergency under specified circumstances.
Matanda-Moyo’s comments therefore signal a possible future debate over the country’s position on capital punishment, rather than an immediate return of the death penalty for drug offences.
The warning comes as authorities continue to pursue tougher measures against drug trafficking, including stronger sentences and efforts to target those involved in supplying illicit substances.
The prosecutor-general’s remarks are likely to renew debate over whether harsher punishment can effectively deter major drug trafficking and how any future changes would fit within Zimbabwe’s existing legal framework.
For now, there is no indication from the reported remarks that legislation has been introduced to restore the death penalty specifically for drug trafficking.
