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Walter Nyamukondiwa–Mashonaland West Bureau Chief
BEING roughed up by other artisanal miners in the cut throat gold mining pits of Shurugwi, losing hard found ore and surviving a machete attack near the heart, could not have prepared Kieth Hove for life in prison.
It was not Hove’s chosen field, but losing his job and having a family to feed threw him into the pits that have made millionaires and others victims as the law of the jungle sometimes applies.
Survival of the fittest!
The most daring and those with hearts of steel occasionally supersede basic norms and values.
Hove once survived a machete attack on the chest and carries a big scar after an altercation with people who wanted to raid his ore.
“It was a life of violence as we sought to survive. I worked at one of the leading butcheries in Gweru and when the person I worked for left, I had no means to survive,” said Hove.
“The family had been used to a fairly good life and I couldn’t watch the children fail to go to school and I decided to join artisanal mining.”
Hove had no prior knowledge of artisanal mining but said digging out ore was not a challenge while learning other aspects of the trade.
Life in mining was not easy for him, but he needed to survive.
In a quest for survival and the need to avenge for having his team’s ore raided by others, Hove robbed another team of their ore.
He was caught, convicted and sentenced to five years in jail before being transferred to Hurungwe Prison in Mashonaland West Province.
That was to be the beginning of self-discovery as the trials of life in prison and the lessons imparted have changed his view of the world.
In solitude and under strict instructions from supervisors, commonly known as Mambo in prison, Hove’s life has gone full circle.
From living a normal family life, going underground, experiencing and participating in violence, going to prison and receiving life skills, Hove now sees life with new lenses.
It all started when Hove was engaged by a sponsor together with seven other greenhorn artisanal miners.
“Things went well but our sponsor stopped providing food, which made it difficult to survive,” said Hove.
“Whatever we would get was his and we could only get the crumbs after he took about 90 percent.”
The cost build-up often means the team shares about 10 percent of proceeds.
The sponsor gets his share for the money he has invested, the compressor also gets its share and other equipment used, including the food that the team eats.
Things got so tough without food, he said.
However, what broke the camel’s back was the raid of their ore by a rival gang.
“On the fateful day, I decided to also raid someone of their gold and I was caught, convicted and sentenced to five years in jail,” he said.
Prison was never meant to be a bed of roses and Hove has stories to tell about life in prison, including discouraging those outside to do everything to avoid being sent to prison.
After two years in prison, Hove now feels that being an artisanal miner was not a good idea and prison has given him an alternative to survive.
Hurungwe Prisons specialise in agriculture on its 2 700-hectare piece of land.
The land has to be tilled and livestock needs care.
That’s where prisoners come in.
They must eat what they produce and learn in the process.
Supervisors take the inmates on practical lessons, which one takes whether they want to or have knowledge about it.
“I now know about crop production such that I will be able to apply what I learnt here (when I get) outside,” he said.
Hurungwe Prison is growing horticultural crops including cabbages, butternuts, tomatoes, onions and maize, among others.
Presently, about 34 000 heads of cabbages are at various stages, with about 14 000 cabbage heads expected to go on the market next week.
“I now know the production cycle of cabbages, onions and other crops and the profits to expect.
“These are things that I want to apply when I get out of prison. I have relatives who have farms where I hope I would be able to apply the knowledge that I gained,” he said.
A remorseful Hove said he committed the offence of robbery and he regretted it.
Mabhuru and Mbimbo occupy the top table, using force to take from the supposed weak.
Usually they sponsor teams of artisanal miners to gore the earth in search of gold.
There are no guarantees that what you produce will be yours at the end of the day.
Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services Commissioner General Moses Chihobvu said prisoners needed to be equipped with practical skills to survive once they are integrated into society.
“We want that those who would have offended society get the right skills to help them survive when they are released,” said Comm Gen Chihobvu.
ZPCS, he said, was implementing a turnaround strategy that will relieve pressure on the Treasury, including being food sufficient and selling surplus food.
Another inmate, Terence Maorera, said he was an urbanite who had never tilled the land.
“I feel that all those who engage in drugs such as mutoriro should be sent to places like these as they will come out with a new mind-set,” said Maorera.
“This place is terrible but you come out a better person because of the practical lessons you get.”
Being an urban dweller, he didn’t know anything about agriculture, but he now takes it as an option to make ends meet when released. He threw everyone in stitches when he said one of his sore points in prison was the issue of bugs.
“The most painful thing about prison life is that of bugs. I know that right now they are warming up for night time to feast,” said Maorera.
All inmates thanked the ZPCS for empowering them to face the world once they are released. For Hove, his plea was for the courts to “give shorter custodial sentences because we do not want to find our wives taken by other men out there”.
Online Reporter