Prisoners gather inside Chikurubi Maximum prison before their release (file photo)
Zimbabwe on Monday began releasing nearly 4,000 inmates who were granted presidential amnesty in a bid to ease overcrowding in prisons.
The cabinet announced the amnesty in February on the same day it approved sweeping changes to the constitution as part of a plan to extend 83-year-old President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s term till 2030. “The nation should note that the release of the 3,978 beneficiaries begins today,” Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said at a press conference in the capital Harare. Zimbabwe’s prisons held just over 24,000 inmates in the second quarter of 2025, according to recent available national data.
A total of 4,305, including 223 women, will eventually be released, Ziyambi said, with the scheme “focusing on vulnerable groups and those who have demonstrated significant progress in their rehabilitation”.
Among those freed was 23‑year‑old Tendai Chitsika, who had been serving a six‑month sentence for theft and was only two months away from completing it. “It was a learning curve for me. I’m a changed person and I promise to do good out there,” he told AFP at Harare Central Prison, adding: “I want to thank the president for this opportunity.” In the yard, hundreds of inmates sat divided into two groups.
On one side were those still in their orange prison uniforms, destined to remain behind. On the other, men who had already changed into civilian clothes waited to be processed for release and return home. Some broke into chants of “Mnangagwa huchi”, which loosely translated means “Mnangagwa is honey”, while one prisoner held aloft a banner bearing the president’s face.
The presidential amnesty “reflects a profound commitment to restorative justice, national compassion and the strategic decongestion of correctional facilities”, Ziyambi said. The scheme did not include prisoners convicted of severe crimes such as murder, robbery, rape or “contravention of the Maintenance of Peace and Order Act” — a charge that has been used in the past against protesters and political opposition.
The southern African country has been stirred since last year by rising anger against Mnangagwa and his ruling Zanu-PF party, with leading opposition figures denouncing a constitutional “coup” after the constitutional amendments approved by the cabinet last month.
The amendments — which still need to pass parliament, weighted in favour of the Zanu-PF — include extending the presidential term to seven years and scrapping general presidential elections by giving parliament the power to choose the president.
