The Zambia Constitution of 1991, allows the death penalty in Part III on the Protection of Fundamental Rights and Freedom of the Individual.

The Zambia Constitution of 1991, allows the death penalty in Part III on the Protection of Fundamental Rights and Freedom of the Individual. Article 12 in this section, dealing with the protection of the right to life, at point (1) states: “No person shall be deprived of his life intentionally except in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence under the law in force in Zambia of which he has been convicted.” The constitution of 1996 amending the 1991 constitution maintains the article. Death sentences cannot be passed on people who were minors at the time the crime was committed or on pregnant women.
The Zambian penal code, section 43, foresees that the death penalty be enforced in cases regarding high treason, murder and armed robbery.
Zambia has had a de facto moratorium since 1997, when the last executions took place. Then, former president Frederick Chiluba authorised the hanging of eight prisoners, the only executions he assented to during his ten years in office. His predecessor, Kenneth Kaunda, approved the hanging of more than 70 prisoners but said most of them were executed during the civil wars in southern Africa. Kaunda has since become an advocate for the abolition of capital punishment.
Levy Mwanawasa succeeded Chiluba in the 2001 elections. President Mwanawasa has staunchly refused to authorize executions since taking office, and has taken steps towards abolition.
On April 19, 2003, Mwanawasa appointed a commission to review the constitution. One of the specific terms of reference given to this Constitution Review Commission was to advise on the future of the death penalty in Zambia.
On May 21, 2003, President Mwanawasa refused to sign scores of death 5warrants, commuting all the sentences to life imprisonment. There were about 250 people on death row in Zambia at the time, according to a report by the Inter Press Service, which did not specify the exact number of commutations.
In August 2003 Zambia’s National Assembly abolished corporal punishment. This abolition was a step towards the abolition of hanging, the supreme corporal punishment, two majority members of parliament said during the debate.
On February 27, 2004, President Mwanawasa quashed the death sentences imposed on 44 soldiers convicted of treason in 1999 for their role in a failed 1997 military coup against then president Frederick Chiluba, whom they accused of corruption and inefficiency. He replaced the death sentences with jail terms ranging from 10 to 20 years.
Mwanawasa described the death penalty as “inhuman” and said it should not be maintained on Zambian statutes. Mwanawasa said he had ordered a review of all cases on death row with a view to commuting the sentences. On May 7, 2004 Mwanawasa commuted the death sentences of 15 prisoners who were convicted for murder and aggravated robbery and substituted them with various prison sentences ranging from 20 to 50 years to be backdated from the time the convicts were sentenced. In October 2004, HOC visited Zambia for the second time in two years, this time in a joint mission with the Italian Senate’s Human Rights Commission. The political stances taken during meetings with Zambian authorities marked the point of no return in the process towards abolition, in HOC’s estimation. On October 21, 2004, there were 259 inmates on death row in the country, all held at Mukobeko maximum security prison.