Ashly Dhani
Veronica Gwaze
AT a time that he would have been basking in glory at the peak of his sporting life, Joram Siwela was already behind bars.
The former Chapungu Football Club player was convicted of murder at 19 and sentenced to life in prison.
This was after a fatal Gweru night club scuffle that left his schoolmate dead, in cold blood.
He is among the 2 528 inmates who were released last month through the Presidential amnesty.
Siwela, a former Chaplain High student, joined the Air Force side in 1992 as a junior player before graduating into the senior fold.
As fate would have it, after receiving his first pay cheque, he found himself a new home – prison.
“The day my sentence was announced, I felt my entire world crumble down, I still remember the disappointment that was written all over my father’s face.
“My life revolved around soccer and now having to spend life in prison, I knew the soccer life was over,” recalls Siwela.
Ordinarily, that was the time he would have been rising to the peak, becoming famous and simultaneously pursuing his studies if he wished.
“I regret all the time I spent in prison, had I made a stitch in time I would have saved nine. If I had made the right decisions in life, I would be somewhere right now through soccer,” he said.
Siwela regrets the mistakes that cost him his career and feels his life is an eye opener to many rising athletes.
“I could not survive long enough to spend even my first pay cheque or buy anything for my parents simply because of a small mistake,” he said.
“If I could rewind my life to 22 years ago, I would go back to the pitch and play my heart out with so much discipline and dedication.
“Discipline is what I lacked back then, fame took the best of me as I was rising up the ladder. Imagine killing for a girl at 19, I am not a murderer but it is a mistake that I could have avoided.”
While in prison, Siwela remained active and captained the Harare Central Prison team.
Radio became his close friend as he followed up on football news, but still life was never the same for him.
He also attained his O and A-Level qualifications during his time at the correctional facility.
Given his age, Siwela will probably have to put away his dreams of playing in the top-flight league or making it beyond borders as he wished and aimed before incarceration.
While in the correctional facility, his wish was to also proceed to acquire the highest possible coaching certificates – a wish that he still has.
With society still failing to entirely accept former jail birds, the question is, even if he acquires the coaching certificate will any club be ready to contract him?
“My life is an example to the young players … look at all the time I wasted in prison and the precious opportunities I threw away.
“I let fame sway me off the path and it took 21-plus years to correct that,” he warned rising stars.
He feels that even if he has a caring family that will help him pick the broken pieces, the wasted decades will continue to haunt him.
Online Reporter