Online Reporter
Paul Pindani in CHINHOYI
INMATES at Chinhoyi Remand prison have been sharing their personal stories about how drug addiction ruined their lives.
They spoke during a Drug and Substance Abuse awareness campaign at Gadzema Clinic on Friday.
Giving testimony, four young men and one woman spoke about the harsh realities and consequences of substance abuse.
Munyaradzi Ndebele, who is in jail for murder, told a chilling story of how drugs fuelled his actions.
“I was a problem child at home, a nuisance, and running away felt like the only escape from a life I had no appetite for.
“But the escape led me to a different kind of prison.
“That day, in 2020, the drugs exploded through my veins, twisting my judgment until every shadow held a threat, every glance a challenge.
“Then I saw a man. He had done nothing wrong to me but in that moment of drug-induced madness, he became the target of my unleashed fury.
“I started stabbing him again and again on his neck.”
He added:
“Chinobva chapera chimweya ichocho. No one dared to touch me but I was already tainted.
“I completed my O-Levels behind bars.”
Another inmate, Nyasha Mutodi, who even studied at university before dropping out in his final year, said he was jailed for defrauding his parents to support his drug habit.
“Drugs are not good. They destroy your life and career.” said Mutodi .
“Nothing good comes from taking or smoking drugs. The path of addiction is a lonely, destructive one. It promises escape but delivers only chains.
“Choose life, choose freedom, choose a future unmarred by the devastating grip of drugs.”
Provincial Prisons Public Relations Officer, Assistant Prison Correctional Officer Ibra Marumbwa, said:
“We’ve seen how drug abuse can lead people to commit offences they wouldn’t normally consider.
“Their testimonies can serve as a wake-up call and inspire others to make positive choices,” she said.
