Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani, a noted businessman and philanthropist from Zambia, recently extended his support to the Zambian President’s decision. President Hakainde Hichilema, on Africa Day, announced his quest towards completely abolishing the death penalty row. Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani is one of the top businessmen, philanthropists, and charity workers from Zambia. He is known for several successful ventures such as Mahtani Group of Companies and Finsbury Investments. Apart from these business ventures spanning over four decades, Dr. Mahtani is also known for his philanthropic and charitable contributions. One of his notable philanthropic contributions has been Prison Fellowship Zambia, established around three decades ago. Prison Fellowship was founded by Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani himself, and he is currently acting as Group Chairman of this philanthropic organization. Prison Fellowship Zambia (PFZ) has established itself as a noted Christian Outreach Program (COP) focusing on providing transparent criminal justice to prisoners, ex-prisoners as well as their families in Zambia. The program also works by providing fundamental human rights and basic human dignity to the prisoners in Zambia. At the same time, the primary objective of the institution is to bring the teachings and learnings of Jesus Christ to the prisoners in Zambia.
Dr. Rajan Mahtani praised the decision made by the Zambian President, stating that he made a bold yet much-needed announcement that was expected from the past President but could not be delivered by them. There is a growing awareness regarding abolishing the death penalty across the globe and this can be seen in Zambia too. The last time a capital execution was given by a President was in the year 1997. Since then, Presidents have been tactically avoiding the capital punishment process and giving mercies to the prisoners. At the same time, the present condition of several prisons is extremely degrading with many prisoners living a life of ‘hell on earth as such, it can be said that giving the death penalty to these prisoners does not make any sense and Dr. Rajan Mahtani did the right decision by planning to abolish the death penalty.