The ManicaPost
Liberty Dube and Luthando Mapepa Post Correspondents
A TOTAL of 305 inmates from Manicaland Province, among them 23 females, were this week released under the Presidential Amnesty Clemency Order Number One of 2020.
At Mutare Farm Prison, which houses male inmates only, 76 people were released, while Chipinge (Mandikisi) Prison released 84 males and nine females.
Little Kraal (Nyazura) Prison released 61 males, while Rusape Prisons released 19 males and four females.
Mutare Remand Prison released 37 males and 10 females. The 305 are among the 2 528 prisoners released across the country this week. A Mutasa inmate who requested anonymity expressed joy at being given the second chance.
“We were being well taken care of and l learnt a lot through the rehabilitation programmes. We were also being taught how to reintegrate into our respective communities.”
Former Mutare City Council ambulance driver, Tendai Richman Chigodora, who was jailed for three years for fraud and had served one year behind bars, was among the beneficiaries.
“I am happy to be going back to my family, friends and relatives and I thank President Mnangagwa for pardoning us. We have reformed.
“We are appealing to the society to accept and embrace us. I am going back to share the positives that I learnt while in prison,” said Chigodora.
Bornface Zhuwawo, who was released from Chipinge Prison, said he is now a reformed person and hopes to start a new crime-free life.
“I was convicted for theft three years ago and I was about to complete my jail term. I hope the community will accept me since I am now a born again man,” he said.
Mutare Farm Prison’s Officer-in-Charge, Superintendent Adonick Dhliwayo said the amnesty will go a long way in de-congesting the prisons in the wake of Covid-19.
“Mutare Farm Prison is heavily congested and this was giving us many challenges, including food shortages.
“The de-congestion is critical considering the Covid-19 pandemic. We have not recorded any Covid-19 case at the prison and we are trying by all means to adhere to measures set by Government to ensure the inmates’ safety,” he said.
Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services Manicaland provincial public relations officer, Principal Correctional Officer Liberty Mhlanga confirmed the release of the 305 inmates from Manicaland’s five prisons.
Last month, The Manica Post reported that a habitual criminal who had been set free through the Presidential Amnesty has been locked up again after breaking into a Vumba school and stealing an assortment of items.
