Zimbabwe is making significant strides towards the elimination of the death penalty from its statutes as demonstrated by the removal of all women and persons aged below 21 from facing the death sentence, Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said.

Addressing delegates attending the 9th International Meeting of the Ministers of Justice in Rome, Italy yesterday, Vice President Mnangagwa said he was positive that Zimbabwe will soon abolish capital punishment.

He said he survived death penalty during the Rhodesian regime and knows “the tribulations faced by those on death row”.

“The legislative history of Zimbabwe in so far as the death penalty is concerned demonstrates that the country is making significant strides towards the elimination of capital punishment,” said VP Mnangagwa.

“The exclusion of all women and the increase of the minimum age of execution from 18 to 21 years under the current Constitution of Zimbabwe is a positive step towards the abolition of the death penalty.”

Under the old Constitution, only pregnant women and persons below the age of 18 were exempted from the death penalty.

“A lot of criticism has been levelled against the country to the effect that these constitutional provisions, instead of promoting gender balance under the criminal justice system, are actually discriminatory against male offenders,” said VP Mnangagwa.

“This discriminatory provision was maintained at the referendum after realisation by the majority that the most heinous and ruinous offences were actually at the instigation of the males than females.”

VP Mnangagwa said as leaders in Government, they noted the concerns raised and will address them at the opportune time.

“Surely, we will not hesitate to expunge capital punishment from our laws,” he said.

VP Mnangagwa said the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs had launched campaigns to educate people about the new Constitution and emphasis was on the abolition of the death penalty.

He said Zimbabwe was very aware of, and committed to its obligations under the various international human rights instruments she has ratified and acceded to, adding that steps have been taken to ensure the national law was in conformity with international human rights norms.

“The country underwent the peer review process under the auspices of the UN Human Rights Council, wherein it accepted most of the recommendations to improve the human rights situation,” said VP Mnangagwa.

“One such recommendation it accepted was in relation to the abolition of the death penalty.

“The country also accepted the recommendations to consider ratifying the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and to take measures to abolish the death penalty.”

VP Mnangagwa said the objective of the criminal justice system was now increasingly being viewed from a rehabilitative point of view than from an incarceration and retributive perspective.

“Having survived the death penalty myself, I know the tribulations faced by those on death row,” he said.

“The moment a sentence is pronounced that you are going to die by hanging, the whole world collapses on you,” he said adding that, “The death penalty is, in fact, a flagrant violation of the right to life and dignity.”

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The South Sudan main armed opposition faction led by the first vice president designate, Riek Machar, has said the country will revert to the 10 states as provided for in the August 2015 peace agreement should the opposing parties fail to agree on the number of states to be created, an official said.

According to the armed opposition faction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) spokesperson James Gatdet Dak, the creation of 28 states by the government of President Salva Kiir Mayardit was not necessary and had no legal backing.

“The peace agreement has been signed based on the constitutionally recognized 10 states at the time of signing in August 2015,” Dak said when contacted on Sunday as to whether the SPLM-IO would approve the referendum proposal from the government.

He added: “Also the recent IGAD communiqué has called for establishment of an inclusive boundary commission with membership of all the parties to the peace agreement. The commission will determine the number of states and basis for their creation within one month from formation of a Transitional Government of National Unity. In case of disagreement the parties will revert to the 10 states as simple as that.”

The development comes in the wake of government spokesman, Michael Makuei Lueth, saying on Sunday that government wants a referendum to determine the number of states, adding that Juba will not revoke the presidential decree that created the 28 states until the outcome of the referendum.

But Gatdet Dak  said the peace agreement did not provide for referendum to be conducted in determining the states, challenging the government for what he said had been its ‘fluctuating positions’ in their approach to the states of the country.

Dak further reminded that the government rejected their proposal to create 21 states based on colonial districts when the parties were negotiating in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, and never came up with a counter-proposal of the number of states. They never mentioned their desire to create 28 states so that the parties could discuss it during the negotiations, he added.

He also said the government did not consult the people or ask for a referendum first when it suddenly decreed 28 states in the name of ‘popular demand’ five weeks later after President Salva Kiir had signed the peace agreement based on the 10 states.

The opposition official further said it was unnecessary to hold an expensive nationwide referendum in the face of the political and economic crisis in the country, adding it would not only be a misplaced priority or further obstacle to the implementation of the peace agreement, but also an ‘unnecessary burden’ on the people of the country with a collapsing economy.

According to Dak, the best course of action is for the government to abide by the peace agreement and the recent IGAD communiqué.

Meanwhile, the alliance of 18 South Sudanese political parties led by Lam Akol, the former detainees and the international community have also urged President Kiir to suspend the creation of the states until the parties come to a consensus, saying the decision has contributed to the inter-communal violence in the country.

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The European Union (EU) and Belgian envoys to the East African Community (EAC) have pledged to support the regional body’s activities.

The EU Ambassador to Tanzania and the EAC Roeland van de Geer Paul and his Belgian counterpart Paul Cartier made the pledges as they separately presented their credentials to EAC Secretary General Amb Dr Richard Sezibera, in Arusha, Tanzania.

Amb van de Geer noted that the EU’s assistance to the EAC was broad covering almost all sectors of the integration agenda, reaffirming that the EU would continue providing this support. He urged the EAC to identify and prioritize the areas in which it would require increased support from the EU.

Amb Sezibera and Amb van de Geer agreed to hold bilateral talks to re-examine the cooperation framework between the EAC and the EU with the goal of making improvements, with technical teams from both sides exploring areas for future cooperation.

Amb van de Geer conveyed the EU’s condolences to the EAC and the family of the late Ms. Isabelle Wafubbwa, the Principal Political Affairs Officer, at the Community who passed on recently. He described Ms. Wafubbwa as having been instrumental in cooperation between the two regional economic communities especially in the field of political integration.

On his part Ambassador Cartier said his country was keen on strengthening her relations with the Community, by being part of the solution to various challenges facing the EAC.

In his remarks, Dr Sezibera thanked the Belgian government for her offer of additional support to the EAC, adding that a framework of agreement for cooperation will be developed between Belgium and the Community.

The Secretary General hailed Belgium for her contribution to the Partnership Fund, which has enabled the EAC to undertake programmes and projects in various sectors.

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The 17^th Ordinary East African Community (EAC) Heads of State Summit is scheduled for February 29, in Arusha, Tanzania, with top on the agenda the consideration of reports by the EAC Council of Ministers on the negotiations on the admission of the Republic of South Sudan into the Community.

Other issues to be discussed include Sustainable Financing Mechanisms for the EAC, the EAC Institutional Review, and Council reports on: the Model, Structure and Action Plan of the EAC Political Federation; Implementation of the Framework for Harmonized EAC Roaming Charges; Modalities for Promotion of Motor Vehicle Assembly in the region and Reduction of the Importation of Used Motor Vehicles from Outside the Community, and; the Promotion of the Textile and Leather Industries in the region, and stopping importation of Used Clothes, Shoes and Other Leather Products from outside the region.

The Summit is also expected to deliberate on a report by the Council on the verification exercise for the admission of the Republic of Somalia into the EAC.

The Heads of State are expected to launch the new International East African e-passport (electronic-passport) during their meeting.

The Summit will be preceded by a meeting of the EAC Council of Ministers that will take place

Meanwhile, Sweden has pledged to continue supporting the East African Community integration process, with
the Swedish Ambassador to Tanzania and the EAC Ambassador Katarina Rangnitt, saying cooperation among the five EAC Partner States was crucial to relations between Sweden and East Africa.
Amb Rangnitt was speaking when she presented her credentials to the EAC Secretary General, Amb Dr Richard Sezibera at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
Sweden has over the past nine years disbursed generous financial support amounting to 7,225,155 Swedish Kroner (US$851,676) to the EAC, monies that have been channeled through the EAC Partnership Fund.
Welcoming the Swedish envoy, Amb Dr Sezibera thanked Sweden for her support to the Community over the years noting that the Swedish support has been used for among other things the negotiations of the Economic Partnership Agreements between the EAC and the EU as well as boosting the health sector in the region.
Amb. Sezibera said the Partnership Fund has been used to finance not just the activities of the EAC Secretariat but the Community’s specialized institutions such as the Lake Victoria Basin Commission and the Inter-University Council of East Africa.
The Secretary General briefed Amb. Rangnit on the progress of the EAC integration saying the Community had made many achievements since the signing of the Treaty for the Establishment of the EAC on 30th November, 1999.
Amb. Sezibera said the EAC was seeking to ensure that the regional airspace was a unified territory throughout East Africa.

“As we increasingly become an effective Customs Union on the ground, we shall have to do the same for East Africa’s Airspace,” he said, adding that you cannot have a Customs Union on the ground only.

The Secretary General said the Community requires a lot of support to facilitate trade in services noting that significant progress had already been recorded in the free movement of goods as enshrined in the Common Market Protocol.

He pointed out other achievements as the reduction of Non-Tariff Barriers to the free movement of goods, the convertibility of the Partner States national currencies and cooperation in the development of infrastructure.

“Our Infrastructure programmes are largely on track. Many of the One Stop Border Posts have been completed, and are being operationalized. I congratulate the Partner States for ratifying the One Stop Border Bill, and the Axle Weight Control Bill. This puts our Community in good stead to strengthen the operations of our Customs Union,” he said.

He disclosed that the EAC Heads of State Summit had agreed on a 10-year Infrastructure Development Strategy which among other things lays emphasis on public-private partnership investments in railways, roads, ports and energy in the region.

Amb Rangnitt was accompanied by Mr Ludvig Bontell, the Political and Commercial Affairs attaché at the Swedish Embassy in Dar es Salaam.

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Five African Presidents designated by the African Union to find a lasting solution to the escalating political standoff and violence in Burundi are expected in the country between February 25 and 26.

According to media reports South Africa President Jacob Zuma is expected to lead his counterparts: Muhammad Ould Abdel Aziz of Mauritania; Macky Sall of Senegal; Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon and Hailemariam Desalgn of Ethiopia ‘to assist with addressing the political situation’.

Burundi descended into unrelenting violence last year, following the announcement by President Pierre Nkurunziza, that he would seek another term in office after the expiry of a ten-year tenure, enshrined in the country’s Constitution.

The visit of the AU presidential team that was tasked by the 25th Africa Union Summit of the Heads of States in early February will follow that of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who arrived in the strife-ravaged country today and is expected to hold talks with President Nkurunziza tomorrow. Nkurunziza has already rejected plans by the African Union to send peacekeepers to ease tensions in the Great Lakes nation, which diplomats fear is sliding toward another civil war.

More than 400 people have been killed since April when Nkurunziza said he would run for a third term, a move opponents dismissed as unconstitutional and sought to prevent by staging street protests.

And now both the United Nations and the African Union are under intense pressure to halt the violence that has engulfed Burundi a decade and a half after the country’s belligerent opponents signed a peace agreement in Arusha, Tanzania in 2000.

Meanwhile, three people were today killed in gun and grenade attacks in Burundi, just hours before the arrival of Ban Ki-moon, who is trying to end the bloodshed over President Nkurunziza’s disputed re-election.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks but the government says there are now three rebel outfits fomenting violence, including two made up of renegade soldiers.

The opposition also accuses government troops of arbitrary arrests, disappearances and extra-judicial killings.

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