ZAMBIA: DEATH PENALTY RETAINED IN THE DRAFT CONSTITUTION

the National Constitution Convention in Lusaka voted to retain the death sentence, which is in clause (3) of Article 28 of the First Draft Constitution. When the clause was first put to a vote on 16 April, delegates reached a deadlock and pushed it to a secret ballot, where 177 delegates voted for its retention while 138 rejected it. On 13 April, the Bill of Rights thematic group at the National Constitution Convention had rejected Article 28 on the controversial death penalty provision in the draft constitution. Article 28 (3) of the First Draft Constitution states that; "A person may be deprived of life if that person has been convicted of a capital offence and sentenced to death."