Makeshift boat drowns prison officer

Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief

A ZIMBABWE Prison and Correctional Service Officer (ZPCS) drowned at Whitewaters Dam in Gweru when a homemade boat belonging to a fish poacher which she was using to remove his nets capsized in the middle of the dam.

ZPCS spokesperson for Midlands/Masvingo region chief correctional officer Jere Ruzive confirmed the incident which happened at around 2PM on Monday.

He said correctional officer 1 (CO1) Chipo Ndlovu drowned while attempting to remove fishing nets that were allegedly being used by the fish poacher in the dam.

CCO Ruzive said the body of CO 1 Ndlovu was only retrieved from the dam by a police sub aqua unit on Tuesday.

“I can confirm the drowning of CO 1 Chipo Ndlovu at Whitewaters dam in Gweru on Monday afternoon. Preliminary investigations indicate that on Monday afternoon, CO 1 Ndlovu was in the company of other prison guards on a field exercise at Whitewaters dam,” said CCO Ruzive.

He said CO 1 Ndlovu and other prison officers were doing horse riding exercises in preparation for the Harare Agricultural show where they are expected to exhibit.

CCO Ruzive said during the field exercise- the officers saw a fish poacher on the banks of the dam.

“They told him that he was not supposed to be poaching fish and asked him to remove his nets from the dam. It was later learnt that the poacher had more nets in the dam which prompted CO 1 to enter the boat belonging to the poacher in a bid to remove the nets from the dam.

“In the middle of the dam, the boat capsized and CO 1 Ndlovu drowned. Her fellow prison officers tried to save her but it was in vain,” he said.

CCO Ruzive said they failed to retrieve her body before they called in the police sub aqua unit which managed to retrieve the body on Tuesday morning.