adminZimbabwe Prison Service regional spokesperson for Masvingo and Midlands, Senior Prison Officer (SPO) Ruzive Ruzive, could not confirm or deny the incident when contacted for comment.
“I cannot respond to you in connection with what you are asking because I am off duty. You can talk to my junior called Banda,” said SPO Ruzive.
However, a prison officer confirmed the incident and said the fugitive is believed to be hiding somewhere in Gutu.
“It is true that an inmate escaped from Mutimurefu Prison on Wednesday last week. He was left with a few months to be freed. He was serving a 15-year jail term for stocktheft. He is said to have escaped to Gutu and our officers went there and tried to ambush him but that did not help,” said the officer.
Another officer said Tizirai had not shown any signs that he was planning to escape.
“We were used to the inmate. He was one of the few inmates whom we entrusted to do some chores outside the prison without any problem. We never suspected that he would escape considering that he was about to complete his term,” said the officer.
Tizirai was working with other prisoners at the prison farm and they allegedly stole a goat belonging to a resettled farmer whose plot borders the prison farm.
They reportedly roasted the meat and Tizirai then made good his escape.
The farmer, Ms Erniah Makasi of Plot 26, Riverdale Farm, said the discovery of the theft had helped explain the disappearance of goats at the family plot.
She said her family had since the beginning of the year lost seven goats, which all along they thought were killed by crocodiles along Pokoteke River.
“We thought our goats were killed by crocodiles from the nearby river but now the river is completely dry and there is a footpath that goes through it. With crocodile attacks we used to find some remains, but this time around we did not find any. This makes us believe there is someone behind this,” said Ms Makasi.
She said the goat allegedly killed by the prisoners was part of the stock being distributed by an organisation that supported people living with HIV and Aids in the area.
On the fateful day, three of the family goats allegedly strayed into Mutimurefu Prison Farm and when Ms Makasi’s sons went out to search for them, they found two.
Encouraged that two of the goats had been accounted for, Ms Makasi said she sent the boys out again in the hope of locating the third one.
She said when her sons got near a shed on the prison farm, their dogs led them to a spot where there was fresh meat.
The boys were shocked to find the meat hung to dry and a pot with goat innards ready to cook.
They decided to take the meat home as exhibit to their mother.
The family was convinced that it was their goat and phoned an unnamed prison officer-in-charge who indicated that the suspected prisoner behind the theft had escaped.
Online Reporter