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Bulawayo Bureau

BEING sent to prison for fraud has become a blessing in disguise for Anthony Mhizha who has managed to use the time in jail to train as a qualified carpenter and is now fully employed as an instructor to other inmates after serving his three-year term at the Bulawayo Prisons.  

The same applies to Mzobanzi Moyo who was sentenced to 11 months and is left with four but has already distinguished himself as a professional barber.

Yesterday Moyo had the opportunity to share a lighter moment with visiting senior Government officials and do haircut for the Commissioner General of the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services, Moses Chihobvu, during a familiarisation tour of the formerly Grey Prison, which has been turned into an economic hub.

Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Deputy Advocate Norbert Mazungunye, and permanent secretary Mrs Vimbai Nyemba are on a familiarisation visit of prisons in Matabeleland region. The tour began on Wednesday in Matabeleland South.

As opposed to being incarcerated, the ZPCS has become a champion of rehabilitating and integrating inmates into mainstream production by offering critical life-skills training covering a diversity of sectors.

Through its carpentry, salon, horticulture nursery, car wash and other practical services, Bulawayo Prisons is serving the community and contributing to the city’s economy. Elsewhere in the country the ZPCS has turned prisons into lucrative commercial farming zones with Anju Prison farm in Matabeleland North and Khami Prisons being prime examples.

Enhanced food production from prisons has created savings from the fiscus as inmates are able to produce their own food while part of proceeds from other entrepreneurship projects are saved and will be given to inmates to support their projects once they finish serving their sentence.

“I’m very happy that the salons are operating well, we have a number of salons in different provinces and that money they get, they receive a portion of it when they are done serving, which they will use as capital to start their own businesses,” said Comm Chihobvu soon after having his haircut done.

After touring the facility and engaging with both inmates and prison officers, Deputy Minister Mazungunye said he was impressed by the impactful activities offered and commended the ZPCS for adding value to society through projects that help improve community livelihoods.

“During the tour, we have seen that the staff is working well with the inmates as the inmates are now rehabilitated and there are several projects, which the prisons are undertaking ranging from agricultures, carpentry, building, and poultry production,” he said.

“The prisons are participating and contributing immensely in the agricultural sector and they have managed to make the prisons self-sustainable in respect of food self-sufficiency at each of the prisons that we have, so they are doing well in that regard.”

In recognition of the positive strides made by the ZPCS in the agriculture sector, the Government has pledged to deliver more support to prison farms including helping them shift from reliance on rain-fed farming to irrigation as part of climate-proofing interventions to enhance food production.

In an interview after the tour, Comm Chihobvu paid tribute to the Government for its support despite the challenges facing the country’s economy.

“What the Deputy Minister said I do agree with, it shows that we are working as a team and I would like to thank President Mnangagwa for giving us some of the resources because he is the one who personally said we are supposed to get tractors, which we are using in the farms,” he said.

“We are also getting some irrigation facilities like center pivots in some of these farms hence production has increased. I’m happy that the mindset of our officers has changed as opposed to the previous years where we had officers thinking that their main duty is to lock and unlock prisons, but this time they are geared to produce.

“ZPSC will play a major role in the economy, especially contributing to the gross domestic product (GDP).”

Comm Chihobvu said by utilising the farms, which they have and by producing enough to feed inmates they also reduce Government expenditure as they would not depend on the fiscus.

He said achieving food self-sufficiency also means that ZPCS can now sell the surplus to the Grain Marketing Board and the proceeds will be used to buy other essential commodities for inmates.

Deputy Minister Mazungunye is expected to conclude his tour of Bulawayo Province tomorrow at Khami Complex where he will visit Khami Maximum, Khami Medium, Mlondolozi and Remand prisons.

Ends CKD PN