Story by Peter Chivhima
Government is taking a multifaceted approach to enhance the country’s prison infrastructure and conditions.
This was revealed by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Honorable Ziyambi Ziyambi on the sidelines of the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) graduation ceremony in Harare this Friday.
“We are now undertaking a programme of building new prisons, and we are in the process of identifying partners, so to speak, that can assist us to come up with new prison facilities. So we are in the process of trying to move prison, and at the centre, to aid the school to be found, so that we will build a better facility. We acknowledge challenges, but we believe now we have the main part. What we need is, if we get the financial resources, which hopefully is coming financially, we get something so that we can start the process. We are now building new prisons. We are building new prisons, and we are building new prisons,” he said.
The graduands included 58 students from ZPSC and five from Rwanda Correctional Service with Rwanda’s top envoy to Zimbabwe Mr James Musoni commending the sound relationship between the two nations.
“This training is a testament of collaboration, good collaboration between Rwanda and Zimbabwe. And we appreciate the government of Zimbabwe’s efforts to allow our students to come and pursue education here. And the Commission, as general, here and in Rwanda, are working very hard to have more actions, programmes, to share experiences, to run from each other. And here it is to have a pan-African programme where Africans really have this exchange programme as was stated by one of us,” he noted.
Graduates pledged to use the expertise gained over a 12-month course for the benefit of their respective nations.
“I am so happy to be part of those who are graduating today and I am going to help our nation using the knowledge I gained here in Zimbabwe,” said a graduate, Supritendent Francis Rudakemwa.
Government is introducing comprehensive prison reforms, including, open prisons to enhance rehabilitation outcomes.
