Decolonising the Zimbabwean Penal Framework: Lessons from Kutanda Botso and Kupira Ngozi

Abstract

This article proposes a decolonised penal framework for Zimbabwe rooted in Ubuntu/ Hunhu, inspired by two VaShona customary practices: kutanda botso, a ritual of offender self-shaming, and kuripa ngozi, reparations for murder. The article argues that Zimbabwe’s current sentencing system, including the advances made under Statutory Instrument 146 of 2023, Criminal Procedure (Sentencing Guidelines) Regulations, 2023, and the Prisons and Correctional Services Act [Chapter 7: 21], remains fundamentally colonial because it neglects relational justice in favour of an individualistic approach that balances retributive and utilitarian goals based on Roman-Dutch and English law. Using a historical–legal perspective, the study traces this Western-centric perspective back to the 1891 adoption of the law of the Cape of Good Hope colony and demonstrates its ongoing influence on Zimbabwe’s contemporary criminal justice system. The article then situates Ubuntu/Hunhu within a broader discussion of what a theory of punishment based on relational personhood involves. In this context, the article explores whether practices like ostracism, compensation and ridicule should be regarded as evidence of an absence of punishment or as alternative forms of punishment rooted in a different ontology altogether. Through case studies of kutanda botso and kuripa ngozi, the article contends that traditional criminal justice practices based on Ubuntu/Hunhu do not promote reconciliation without accountability (punishment) but instead see punishment as an essential step towards healing fractured relationships and reintegrating offenders into society. The article concludes by examining how insights from these practices could inform offender reintegration efforts under parole in Zimbabwe.