THE premature release of convicted sex offender Winston Kabinda has rightly raised questions among members of the public, and the statement from the Zambia Correctional Service distancing the current government from the matter is an act of shameless betrayal of the victim, and the nation at large. Kabinda’s release is not just another bureaucratic footnote in our criminal justice system, it is a scandal that cuts to the very core of morality, justice, and accountability in Zambia. When someone is sentenced to 30 years in prison for defiling a four-year-old child, society expects that justice will be carried out fully and transparently. Yet Kabinda, who was only admitted to prison in 2018, walked free in 2020, after serving less than...
