By Naome Boka
The Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service’s (ZPCS) rehabilitation efforts continue to gain traction with prisoners in the Midlands province getting a chance to showcase their newly acquired skills and interact with the community as the Province observed the Prisons Day commemorations this Saturday.
It was a pomp and funfair at Mkoba stadium as inmates and officers of the ZPCS took turns to entertain the crowd through various acts and sporting activities.
The exercise which was oversubscribed is part of the broader thrust by the service to prepare prisoners for their successful reintegration into society.
As Midlands province, we are proud of the support we got from our stakeholders who made sure that we take care of our offenders.
The prison day for this year was running under the theme “rehabilitation, a collective responsibility”, which means that there is a need for the society to join us as ZPCS, in our endeavor to ensure that those who wronged society before, are represented with a chance to be taken back to the society. Let me also inform the public that, ZPCS recently adopted, a new culture of doing business, which has innovation, entrepreneurship and production. So in whatever we do, we should identify ourselves, with this new culture of organization.”
The inmates are cognoscente of the values that come with the rehabilitation thrust as it provides them with much-needed critical life skills development initiatives, that are essential in preparing them for life after prison while the community welcomed the initiative as being positive.
“I have learnt a lot of skills while serving time behind bars. I am now able to manufacture a peanut butter-making machine. When I get out of here, I will be able to sustain myself and my family through income-generation projects. Moreso, I will occupy myself with a lot of activities and as such, chances are slim for me to indulge in criminal activities.”
“As the youth, this day is very important as we were misinformed on many fronts, we thought prison facilities were about incarcerating offenders, but here we were inspired by horse riding skills, their band, so you can see it’s interesting and it gives us a different perspective about their operations.”
“This day is important because it gives peace and promotes unity in the province. As for me, I have learnt a lot. The ZPCS rehabilitation mode is a source of inspiration, so I can be someone tomorrow. As I have seen, people displaying their artworks, I have learnt that if you are a woman, you can also do what men can do.”
Apart from the rehabilitation of offenders, the government commended remarkable contributions that are being undertaken by the ZPCS in covering the socio-economic gap in the country.
“I commend ZPCS for its corporate social responsibility programs through the ZPCS Midlands Province Building brigade that has seen them taking part in the construction of a government school block in Gokwe Nemudziya, another one in Zvishavane and the planned Takakunda primary school ablution facility here in Gweru. I wish to congratulate the Second Republic for receiving a head of the service award at the 2024 International Correctional and Prisons Association (ICPA) Correctional Excellency Awards held in Singapore which further attests to our resilience, determination, commitment and hard work under the leadership of His Excellency, the President Cde Dr E.D Mnangagwa.”
The colorful event also witnessed the ZPCS Midlands province unveiling the new equipment for its provincial band which was bought from proceeds of the golf tournament among the various fundraising activities.
