Jailbreak attempt hits snag

Michael Magoronga Midlands Correspondent
An escape attempt by a prisoner serving jail time in Kwekwe for theft hit a snag after he was apprehended by alert members of the Zimbabwe Prison and Correctional Services (ZPCS). Brian Rungu (31), an inmate at Kwekwe Prisons where he is serving a nine-month jail term, was apprehended after he suddenly bolted from other prisoners as they were carrying out a clean-up exercise outside the prison complex.

Rungu was convicted in January this year for stealing farming inputs from his employer. He will serve and additional one year after he was convicted for escaping from lawful custody when he appeared before Kwekwe magistrate Mr Storey Rushambwa.
In his defence, Rungu told the court that he could no longer stand the challenging tasks given to him in prison.

“Your Worship, I cannot stand the menial jobs given to us in prison, so I wanted to run away and escape from doing such duties. We work hard in prison Your Worship, so I wanted rest.
“I plead with the honourable court to be lenient with me,” Rungu said.

It is the State’s case that, on March 1 at around 11.30am, Rangu was at Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) dumpsite just outside the prison complex where he, together with 19 other inmates, were cleaning up.

Suddenly, the court further heard, Rungu left the other inmates and started running in an attempt to escape.
After about 400 metres of running, the alert ZPCS members who were supervising the clean-up campaign gave chase and apprehended him. He was handed over to the ZRP, leading to his appearance in court.
Mr Freddy Ndoro represented the State.