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Legislator urges stiffer penalties to curb crime

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MDC-T legislator Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga has welcomed plans by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government to impose stiffer penalties on rapists as part of efforts to deal with the crime.

BY VENERANDA LANGA

MDC-T legislator Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga has welcomed plans by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government to impose stiffer penalties on rapists as part of efforts to deal with the crime.

In his speech during the official opening of the Second Session of the Ninth Parliament on Tuesday, Mnangagwa announced that laws will be brought before Parliament to protect children and women from different injustices.

“The Prisons and Correctional Services Bill, the Child Justice Bill and Mandatory Sentencing for Rape and Sexual Offences Bill, must incorporate acceptable customary norms, human rights standards and international best practice,” Mnangagwa said.

In previous Parliament sessions, female MPs have been advocating for stiff sentences for rapists, of up to 30 years or more.

Misihairabwi Mushonga described this as one of the positive moves that Mnangagwa has taken.

“For me what struck me most during the President’s speech was the issue of sexual offences around mandatory sentences for rape. If that Bill is brought before Parliament it will solve one of the fundamental issues around violence against women,” Misihairabwi Mushonga said.

“Some of us (legislators) are about to leave Parliament and if the issue of mandatory sentences for rape is imposed that will be part of our legacy if this is our last term because we have been advocating for that for a long time.

“We have been waiting for this for years and nothing was happening. We proposed the issue of mandatory sentences for rapists during the late former President Robert Mugabe’s time and the law never saw the light of the day given the male dominated systems of Parliament.”

Senator Chief Fortune Charumbira also commented efforts to address the cash crisis in the country.

Mnangagwa announced that his government was pursuing removal of arbitrage in order to address the cash situation.

“We are impressed with the delivery made by the President because he touched on core issues and measures that the Executive is taking to ensure that issues of the exchange rate that have been causing problems in the country are addressed,” Chief Charumbira said.

He then castigated the stance taken by the main opposition MDC to walk out of Mnangagwa’s speech saying that problems in the country cannot be solved by demonstrations.

“Problems cannot be solved by fighting. We attain peace by putting guns down and they must not play to the public gallery. Political parties should respect the President,” chief Charumbira said.