Hangman's Replacement (ePub)

If you had to interview the candidates for a country's new hangman, what questions would you ask them? If your family was on the verge of starvation, and becoming a hangman was the only job available, would you apply? If you were hired, what would you do if the prisoners looked like your loved ones? And what if you knew that a good man was pursuing the job out of desperation, would you do anything to prevent him from getting it? But if that man's recruitment would somehow guarantee your own survival, would you encourage his candidacy? All these questions were asked of people who never thought they would find themselves in such a position, until they became mired in the chaos surrounding the hangman's replacement. Zimbabwe's last hangman retired in 2004. As the nation drifted towards abolition, no determined effort was made to find a replacement. However, the discovery of carnivorous flame lilies at the Great Zimbabwe national monument triggered a spirited search for a new executioner. Those who know why this discovery energized the recruitment effort refused to talk. The frantic attempts to find a new hangman were impeded by the lack of suitable candidates. Well-placed sources confirmed that the fear of ngozi was a deterrent. According to this traditional belief, the spirit of a murdered person torments the killer and his family for generations. This is only half the story. Several promising applicants did come forward. None met the minimum requirements for the job. The selection criteria were designed to exclude the mentally ill, the vindictive, and the sadistic. However, they did not rule out the desperate. This is the story of Abel Muranda, an impoverished peasant who was obsessed with securing the hangman's job so he could feed his starving family. It is also the story of the sympathizers who fought to protect him from his prize; and the anxious men who believed that emptying death row would end their horror before the meat-eating plants constricted around their necks.