In an unexpected move on Monday 17 January, the Smith regime announced that eight African men had been executed early that morning in Salisbury Central Prison. The eight, HOZEAH GANDIWA (29), ELIAS MADOVI (30), CRISPEN MUSHIPE (20), NORMAN MUTOVONI (21), FREDERICK MUZIKENYEDZE (20), GEORGE NYAGU (22), PHILIP NYAGU (21), and MOSES TSANZI (21) had been sentenced to death by a Special Court in Salisbury in August and September 1976, on conviction of a series of bomb attacks and acts of sabotage in the Greater Salisbury area. One young white man had been seriously injured in these attacks, but no one had been killed and damage was relatively slight.
At the beginning of December, appeals by all 8 men were dismissed in the Appellate Division of the Salisbury High Court. A death sentence imposed on a ninth man, STONE CHAKABVPASI, aged 18 or 19, was commuted to life imprisonment.
While it appears as a particularly provocative move at a time of talk of an internal accommodation with "moderate" black nationalists, the regime's decision to confirm, via a statement from the Ministry of Information, that the hangings had been carried out, was in part a consequence of the number of convicted men involved and the publicity surrounding the case. It is the first official announcement of its kind since April 1975, when the practice of announcing executions was terminated by the regime on the grounds that hangings were an "emotive" issue. The case of the eight men, all former supporters of the UANC and raised by Bishop Muzorewa himself as an issue at the Geneva talks in November. Shortly after the men's appeal had been rejected in early December, the Bishop, accompanied by senior UANC officials, approached Mr. Charles Waddington, the regime's Solicitor-General, in Geneva and later sent a personal plea for clemency to the Prime Minister, Mr. Smith. In a press statement issued on the evening of 17 January, Bishop Muzorewa stated that "all possible efforts" had been made to see Mr. Smith, but no response had been received beyond an assurance that his appeal for mercy would be considered by Mr. Smith's Executive Council. "To our utter dismay", the statement continued, "the next thing we heard was the statement today that the eight men had been executed. . this amply explains why practically everything the RF Government has done since September 24 contradicts and/or undermines (Smith's) alleged acceptance of the principle of majority rule."
The executions also ignored a petition for mercy to the Rhodesian President, Mr. John Wrathall, organised by the wives of five of the condemned men and the mothers of three. The women, who approached a number of individuals and organizations in the Salisbury area and also tried unsuccessfully to see Mr. Wrathall, called upon members of the public "to join voices with us to cry for mercy from the President of Rhodesia to change their sentence to life imprisonment. We realise the seriousness of their crime and we do not question their being guilty, but as grieved wives and mothers we cry for mercy."
Inquiries were also made to the Ministry of Justice by the Rhodesia Herald, one of those approached by the women, regarding the conduct of executions. The Ministry was asked: "Are the families of men sentenced to death informed about the place and time of the execution (a) prior to the execution, (b) after the execution, or (c) not informed?" The reply, according to the Herald, said: "Relatives are not advised prior to executions of the date or place of the execution. After the execution, such information is not withheld unless there is an order covering such disclosures. To date there has not been such an order." To clarify the term "not withheld," the Ministry of Justice was then asked if the family received any notification after the execution, or whether it was for the family to seek this information from the Ministry. The reply was that the Ministry "does not want to take the matter any further." In a leading article the paper described the Ministry's attitude towards the announcement of executions as "an intolerable position which shows a callous disregard for the feelings of relatives of any condemned man. The fact that the men in this case are terrorists does not alter the basic humanities. Innocent women and children are being made to suffer unduly by - to put it generously - official in-difference. Part of the Ministry's reply indicates that in some instances a petition for clemency could be a pathetic farce, because the condemned men could already have been executed." It appears that in this case the relatives learned that the men had been hanged when they arrived at the prison for their usual Monday visit.
In another less publicised admission, reported in the Rhodesia Herald on 5 January, the regime has revealed that during 1976, a total of 64 people had appeals against the death sentence dismissed, and therefore in most cases have probably already been executed. This is a higher figure than had previously been suspected. Of the 64, 29 had been sentenced by the new Special Courts set up by the regime in May 1976. (During the whole of the period from UDI in November 1965 up to April 1975, a total of 60 people are known to the British Foreign Office to have been executed in Rhodesia - all of them illegally under British and international law).
The regime's figure of 64 presumably includes persons sentenced to death on criminal conviction of murder or rape. The names of six such persons convicted during 1976 are available, of whom three are known to have had appeals dismissed. The overwhelming majority of the 64, however, will have been persons convicted under the "hanging clauses" of the Law and Order (Maintenance) Act for offences connected with the armed struggle.
The number of those executed during 1976 may in fact have been higher than 64, through the inclusion of convicted persons for whom no appeal was noted. While persons sentenced to death by the High Court or the Special Courts have a right of appeal, the onus is upon the defendant to lodge notice of such appeal with the authorities. Many of those who appear before the courts undefended are likely to be unfamiliar with and confused by the complexities of legal rules and procedure.
The implication of the Smith regime's admission that 64 defendants had appeals against the death sentence dismissed in a single year is that people have been tried, sentenced and hanged in Rhodesia, virtually unknown to the outside world. At the beginning of December 1976, IDAF published the names of 57 people at that time under sentence of death or already executed (covering the period April 1975 to December 1976). Since that time, the names have become available of a further 17 people sentenced to death on political charges:
BUROMBO, Wiresi (27) (previously reported in FOCUS as WIRESI, Bulogna) Sentenced to death by a Special Court in Salisbury in November 1976 on conviction of laying a landmine in the Kariba area. His appeal was dismissed in January 1977.
CHARAMBA, Onisimo Simba (21). Sentenced to death by a Special Court in Chiredzi in November 1976, on conviction of possessing arms of war. Originally from the Mtoko area.
DAWANYI, Peter. Sentenced to death by a Special Court in Bindura in January 1977 on charges relating to guerilla activity.
DZUDA, Madison. Sentenced to death by a Special Court in Bindura in January 1977 on charges relating to guerilla activity.
KADENGE, Crispen. Sentenced to death by a Special Court in Salisbury in December 1976.
KANYAMA, Tafireyi. Sentenced to death by a Special Court in Bindura in January 1977 on charges relating to guerilla activity.
MANGURA, Nicholas (21) (previously reported in FOCUS as MANGWEZA, Nicholas) Sentenced to death by a Special Court in November 1976 on conviction of guerilla activity. Originally from the Marandellas area, captured by security forces near Umtali in September 1976. His appeal was dismissed in January 1977.
MASINA, Moses Masuku (25). Vice-chairman of the Luveve West branch of the ANC Youth League, sentenced to death by a Special Court in Bulawayo in November 1976 on conviction of a range of Law and Order offences including sheltering guerillas and recruiting. His appeal was dismissed in January 1977.
MATASANHURA, Gilbert (23). Sentenced to death by a Special Court in Umtali in November 1976 on conviction of guerilla activity. Originally from the Inyanga area, captured by security forces in the Honde Valley in July 1976.
MUPHAMBARA, Jasper (19). Sentenced to death by a Special Court in Chiredzi in November 1976, on conviction of possessing arms of war. Originally from the Melsetter area.
MUTOMBO, Rugari (20) (previously reported in FOCUS as MUTAMBA, Rugera) Sentenced to death by a Special Court in Umtali in November 1976 on conviction of guerilla activity. Originally from the Charter area, captured by security forces near Umtali in September 1976. His appeal was dismissed in January 1977.
NKUBE, Kufas (phonetic). Sentenced to death by a Special Court in Beitbridge in February 1977, on conviction of several counts under the Law and Order (Maintenance) Act.
TAFRENYIKA, Mathias. Sentenced to death by a Special Court in Mount Darwin in September 1976 on charges relating to guerilla activity. His appeal was dismissed at the end of November.
TSAVAYO, Stavros and 2 others, unnamed. All sentenced to death by a Special Court in Mtoko in September 1976. The three were guerillas who had been wounded and captured in the course of the preceding few months.
ZHIWAYO, Naison. Sentenced to death by a Special Court in Bindura in January 1977 on charges relating to guerilla activity.
