Opposition presses for capital punishment

The South West Africa National Union (Swanu) is calling for the introduction of the death penalty to deal with those found guilty of murder and other heinous crimes. The Namibian reports that party leader Evalistus Kaaronda told Desert Radio that capital punishment is part of their manifesto and the answer to dealing with crime. However, University of Namibia human rights lecturer John Nakuta said the proposal was not practical in Namibia as it was not permitted in terms of the Constitution. ‘The Bill of Rights chapter cannot be amended in a manner that would take away what is there, only with the view to improve on what is there,’ he said. Kaaronda said it was not a trivial matter and it was not a matter that should be confined to academic debate. ‘We have lost 115 Namibian lives at the hands of other Namibians (between January and July),’ he said. Kaaronda said the Namibian Constitution in its current form does not reflect the wishes of the people. ‘That Constitution will have to go. It has never helped us,’ he said, adding that ‘it was never a Namibian product’.

Full report in The Namibian