adminThese are the sentiments of one Drytos Ncube, an inmate at Khami Prison.
Ncube is among hundreds of inmates who have been integrated into a variety of rehabilitation programmes offered by the Zimbabwe Prison Services (ZPS) at the Khami Prison Complex.
Situated about 12km west of Bulawayo, the complex also houses Mlondolozi Prison, Khami Medium Prison and Khami Maximum Prison.
A Chronicle news crew visited the complex recently where it observed inmates undertaking skills training programmes in different areas of vocational and academics.
While from the outside, manual labour by the inmates is regarded as punishment for the crimes that the inmates committed, the atmosphere within the complex is different from what many people think.
Fanfare through entertainment and sports, learning, manual work in the field and workshop, punctuate the inmates’ everyday routine.
“There are eight soccer teams in our compound alone. These are the Mighty Stars, Bulldogs, Chelsea, Makokoba, Supersport, Eagles, ABC and All Stars. There is a lot of football talent here my brother. It is only that we do not have proper balls,” said Vusumuzi Khumalo, an inmate who chairs Khami Football Association (Kafa).
The news crew had the opportunity to visit Khami workshops where inmates were busy with their projects in areas such as carpentry, welding, dress making, blacksmithing, shoe-making and repair, knitting and motor mechanics.
“These projects are part of our rehabilitation programmes. When inmates come here, we screen them and identify those with specific skills and integrate them with those who have interest to learn. We assign them leadership responsibilities and they learn together,” said Chief Prison Officer Stanslaus Gonzo, who is in charge of the workshops.
“Those who excel we take them for trade tests, which are done by the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education. At the workshops the inmates repair goods for officers and Government departments. We need partners who would assist us with resources as most of our equipment is obsolete.”
Chrispen Masinga, one of the inmates attached to the workshops, said: “When I came here I did not know anything but now I have skills. Last month I went for a Class Three trade test in boiler making.”
ZPS Matabeleland region public relations officer Senior Prison Officer Livingstone Mashange said it was the Government’s aim to impart knowledge and survival skills to inmates so that they can contribute meaningfully to society than engaging in criminal activities when they come out of jail.
“We are not moving with a begging bowl. We have skilled people here and only want partners. The inmates here manufacture and repair their own clothes and uniforms for officers. Companies can give us orders and we can provide them quality service. All this is meant to empower the inmates.
Given all the resources, we can do big business,” said Senior Prison Officer Mashange.
At Mlondolozi Prison, which houses about 121 female inmates, many economic activities ranging from poultry and knitting projects are undertaken.
Some of the products they make were exhibited at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair last week.
“We do jerseys, door mats, school uniforms, baskets, and carpets. Part of our produce will be exhibited at the ZITF. We have a lot of time here to perfect our work. It is stress free and we enjoy doing our work,” said Sakhile Mangena, an inmate.
“We need new machinery and appeal to companies to employ us when we come out so that we can use these skills productively.”
Several musical and drama groups were also observed doing their practice sessions. In separate interviews, the group leaders said they were keen on recording their pieces and appealed for assistance.
The most outstanding discipline at Khami Prison is farming, both crop and livestock rearing. The news crew toured the farm and observed large-scale production, which is done by the officers and the inmates.
The chief farm manager, Superintendent Gift Ncube could not help but show his pride over the excellent agricultural produce at the farm.
“We have 321 cattle for beef, 86 for dairy,78 goats, 267 pigs and 16 horses for patrols.We have harvested 24 hectares of maize produce, eight hectares of cow peas and nine hectares of groundnuts plus 5,5 hectares of sugar beans,” said Supt Ncube.
“These are for our own consumption as we seek to reduce Government spending. We also sell some to the surrounding community and to the market in Bulawayo. The inmates are involved in every stage of production and they learn these skills.”
Supt Ncube said the proceeds from sales were used to cover recurrent expenditure at the correctional institution or ploughed back to finance the running of their projects.
“Our farm is about 2 577 hectares but only 51 percent is arable. The rest is used for grazing. As it is, we expect to get three tonnes of maize per hectare. In terms of beef production, we are the biggest producer among ZPS farms countrywide,” said Supt Ncube.
“We also grow vegetables and supply markets in Bulawayo. We tell the inmates the proceeds we realise from the farm and that motivates them to implement the projects when they go out because they see the economic benefits of farming.”
He said the prison farm manufactured its own stock feed and announced that they would soon venture into large-scale rabbit production.
To showcase its agricultural expertise, ZPS won the top prize in maize production at its Anju Farm during a field day in Nyamandlovu recently.
President Mugabe is also on record commending ZPS for productive utilisation of the land allocated to them during the land reform programme.
The officer commanding Khami Prison Complex, Assistant Commissioner Elmon Siziba, also said inmates were learning a lot but underscored the need to boost financing of prisons in order to achieve the best results.
“We need more financial support to provide our inmates with all the necessary requirements such as detergents, clothes and blankets especially as we approach the winter season. At the moment, the entire complex is surviving on about $500 000 per month,” said Asst Comm Siziba.
“We need new equipment for various projects and money to repair the old equipment so as to ensure that our programmes run smoothly.”
Senior Prison Officer Mashange paid tribute to organisations such as World Vision and National Aids Council who have assisted ZPS in refurbishing some of the aging infrastructure at the complex.
He urged families with inmates at the complex to assist them to register for their examinations and to visit them regularly so at enhance their social development.
Online Reporter