Online Reporter
Arron Nyamayaro
THE Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services has said there is nothing irregular with its decision to allow an inmate, who is serving a four-year jail sentence for robbery, to attend her daughter’s lobola ceremony.
The inmate, Sarah Simango, was temporarily released from Chipinge Prison to enable her to attend her daughter’s lobola ceremony.
Simango has since returned to prison.
The ZPCS has said this is part of its shift in policy from a punitive approach to a correctional one.
Through that approach, inmates are now allowed to be temporarily released to attend events like weddings even though they would still be serving their prison sentences.
ZPCS national spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Meya Khanyezi, said:
“Inmates come from society and return to society, hence ZPCS rehabilitation programmes are meant to bridge the gap between inmates and the community outside.”
She said Simango, who is serving a four-year sentence for robbery, was granted permission to attend the ceremony as part of the service’s rehabilitation and reintegration processes.
“If an inmate had already booked for a wedding before conviction, he or she can be temporarily released to tie the knot, provided there is enough evidence of the booking,” Khanyezi said.
He also noted that inmates may be allowed to attend other significant family events, including the funerals of their biological parents and children.
“They will be under guard, but with the introduction of the Pathways to Reintegration Foundation (PAREF), inmates will be temporarily released without guards,” he said.
Khanyezi said the ZPCS has “moved from punitive to correctional,” adding that allowing visits from friends and relatives helps inmates feel more connected while also encouraging them not to return to prison after completing their sentences.
“Together we can fight crime by accepting former inmates back into society upon completing their sentences.”
I don’t have problems with the concept of correcting the wrongs criminals would have done. My biggest problem is the failure by the same facility to look at how best it can assist the victim outside. Why are criminals given such opportunities while the victim is left to leak her or his wounds? Why must taxpayers’ money be used to correct someone who, by choice, opted to break the law? The person probably is using the same victim’s taxes to get corrected. It’s blatantly unfair.