Sadomba donates to prisons

Petros Kausiyo and     Caroline Magenga Sports Reporters
LIBYA-based Zimbabwe international striker Edward Sadomba may have been forced into limbo due to the political turmoil rocking the North African country but the veteran forward has used the enforced break to continue pursuing his charity work back home.Civil unrest that has continued in Libya has forced that country to cancel league football and forfeit the rights to host the 2017 African Cup of Nations.

The cancellation of the Libyan league came just weeks after Sadomba’s club Al Ahly Benghazi had failed to qualify for the Champions League semi-finals and they had hoped to turn their attention to their domestic top-flight.

With no matches in sight Sadomba, whose contract with the club runs until December, then decided to fly back home over the weekend to be with his family and yesterday he took his philanthropic work to the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services where he donated football kits, food, clothing and prizes worth US$7 000 to nine prison teams from around the Mashonaland provinces.

The 30 year-old striker said he had been touched by the plight of prisoners and sought to play a part “in helping to rehabilitate them through football’’.

Sadomba, who has played in Mozambique, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates, will be in the country for two weeks after which he will rejoin his Ahly Benghazi teammates for training camps being penciled in for Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

“Given the situation in Libya at the moment the league is on a break and we will wait to hear from the club on when it will resume but there are indications so far that it may be in November but it all depends on the situation in the country.

“I am back home for two weeks then we will be going back for tours to Turkey and UAE to prepare for the resumption of the games. As a club we lost six players to other teams . . . some of the players left because of the war in Libya and I think the loss of players affected us in the Champions League.

“While we are on a break I felt I could work for the Sadomba Foundation and help the prison teams. We should not take prisoners as if they are outcasts, I think we need to help them to rehabilitate so I thought I could use some of what God has given me and play a part by presenting kits today to all the nine teams that will take part.

“We are also paying for the transportation of the prison teams from such centres like Hurungwe, Bindura, Chinhoyi, Kadoma, Mazowe and will also cater for their food. They have a tournament here (at Chikurubi Training Centre) on Thursday and Friday.

“I think it is also important that they are taught some life skills which can help them when they come out of prison,’’ said Sadomba.

The Edward Sadomba Foundation seeks among other things to enhance mentorship, emancipation and empowerment of women, orphans and the less privileged and some of the beneficiaries of the Warriors forward’s benevolence include some primary schools and orphanages around Harare and individuals from within communities in the capital who have been assisted with funding for educational and medical purposes.

“As a foundation we try to assist those less fortunate in society be it the elderly the sick and poor and our work has bought us here today where we noted with concern that we have some really talented inmates who lack equipment to fully develop in sport.

“When I look at these inmates I see so much potential and dreams and for me to be able to assist in these dreams to become a reality is an honour for me I strongly believe sport can be therapy for these guys creating hope and also helping them rehabilitate and have something to look forward to when they leave as some might even end up playing football professionally from the small gesture we have extended today.

“My only hope is that more people can come to the aid of those who are in need for the betterment of our country,” said Sadomba.

In accepting the gesture, Officer commanding Mashonaland region in the ZPCS, Wonder Masimba Chisora, hailed Sadomba’s efforts and added that sport had for a long time worked as a crucial factor in the rehabilitation process of prisoners.

Chisora cited the late former Warriors striker Gift “Ghetto’’ Mpariwa, who played for Dynamos and CAPS United, but was initially identified while he was an inmate at Harare Central Prison.

“This big donation is going to be of paramount importance in the rehabilitation of the inmates through the promotion of sport. Rehabilitation of the inmates is the wheel to a successful reintegration hence the gesture shown today is going to help Mashonaland Region in selecting a formidable soccer team that will participate at the Africa Prisons and Correctional Day commemorations to be held on September 26.

“What Edward Sadomba Trust has done is commendable and I encourage them to continue partnering with ZPCS.  In the past the prison system was much concerned with the imprisonment of offenders hence it experienced a number of inmates relapsing to illegal activities upon release from prison.

“New research on the prison management and administration in the 21st century have indicated that the best approach to mitigate the incidences associated with criminal tendencies is rehabilitation of inmates.

“For this reason the government of Zimbabwe has mandated the ZPCS to mainly focus on the transformation of inmates through treatment and training by qualified personnel,” Chisora said.