Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani, a noted businessman and philanthropist from Zambia, recently interviewed with the Mast Newspaper. This interview was regarding his opinion on the recent announcement made by the President of Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema. On the eve of ‘Africa Day’ the Zambian President made announcement that he is planning to abolish the tradition of death penalty completely. This announcement from the President has received widespread support from across Zambia as well as across African nations and internationally. Among them, one of the biggest supporters has been Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani. Apart from his successful businesses, Dr. Rajan Mahtani is also known for his several philanthropic and charitable contributions. One of them is Prison Fellowship Zambia (PFZ) which was established by Dr. Rajan Mahtani more than 37 years ago. It is a notable Christian Outreach Program that works by bringing the teachings and learnings from Jesus Christ to the inmates, ex-inmates as well as their families in Zambia. The organization also works towards bringing effective and fair criminal justice procedures for the prisoners as well as ensure that they are given the fundamental human dignity and human rights.
Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani further added his voice by stating that killing of the convicts does not necessarily resolve the issue of corruption, unethical practices and criminal activities within the nation. As such, the decision made by the Zambian President, despite being bold, is actually the right move towards achieving equality within the nation. While previous Presidents of Zambia definitely tried to stay away from capital punishment, none of these Presidents actually worked towards bringing down this inhumane and cruel practice. As such, this bold yet right decision from the Zambian President was heartfully supported by Dr. Rajan Mahtani as well as his organization Prison Fellowship. The process of changing a well-established and long-standing reform is not easy and will need significant changes in regulations and reforms. Dr. Mahtani also pledged his full support towards transforming this dream into a realty.