THE Bible in the Acts of the Apostles narrates the story of Paul – a man who murdered Christians, but repented and became a sanctified being.
Veneranda Langa
During those days, it was difficult for people who knew of Paul’s former murderous ways to believe that he had completely reformed, but after exhibiting that he had changed and had given his life to spreading Christianity, people started to have faith in him and to follow his teachings which we read in the Bible nowadays. Indeed, it is very difficult for society to be convinced that one convicted of serious crimes such as murder and armed robberies can one day become fully repentant.
However, like Paul in the Bible, three ex-prisoners and former armed robbers Masawuso Kaware (36), Matthew Chiweshe (33) and Martin Sora (36) vowed not to return to their past nefarious ways saying they wanted to become responsible citizens in Zimbabwe.
During interviews with NewsDay they admitted that it was not an easy task to accomplish given the very difficult economic hardships in the country and the un-supportive nature of members of the public who still treated them with suspicion.
The three benefited from the prisons’ department rehabilitation programmes, but after their release they failed to ensure support for their self-help projects in an endeavour to earn a living after more than a decade in prison.
Kawere, from Greendale, Harare, was jailed in 2000 after committing a spate of armed robberies in different areas like Karoi, Kadoma, and Chinhoyi.
“I was a very notorious armed robber who committed several crimes in different cities in 1990 until I was finally nabbed during the year 2000 in Chinhoyi,” said Kawere.
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“I was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment which I spent at Chikurubi Maximum Prison after spending one-and-a-half years in remand prison at Chinhoyi Prison,” he said.
Kawere said the one-and-a-half years in remand prison was testimony that the justice system was slow and a suspect can spend a lot of time before their case was heard before the courts. He said he chose to join the drama and music group at Chikurubi where they were trained in music and formed a group called Maximum Force.
During his stay in prison Kawere said different church ministers and prison chaplains used to preach to them and he opened his ears to God’s word and became a Christian before he was released from prison in March 2010.
“As I came out of prison, I had not been worried about life outside prison because I believed that the same organisations that used to assist with rehabilitation inside prison were going to be there for me upon my release. I knew it was impossible to get formal employment due to my criminal records but I hoped that my musical and drama skills would enable me to earn a living.
However, reality dawned on me when I noticed that the organisations standing for prisoners were unable to assist ex-convicts with money for projects or even donations such as musical instruments.
“I struggled to buy food and clothes for myself and siblings because what had made me to resort to crime in 1999 was the difficult economic situation where I had lost my parents and had to fend for the family. I had also gone up to grade seven in terms of education. However, after failing to get help for my musical projects after prison I resolved that I was now a reformed Christian attending Christ Ministries and should not revert to criminal activity despite my dire needs as an unemployed person,” he said.
Kawere said he managed to harness financial resources by doing piece jobs. But he said it was not an easy road for him as most people did not want an ex-prisoner near them.
“I saved some money and with the help of some well-wishers like Bozman Matengarufu, pastor Kudzai Mugwira of Christ Ministries, Mind Chamisa and other individuals who donated money I managed to record a musical DVD entitled The Devil is a Liar, which was a way to say that despite my former criminal life, I was now saved and will never return to those ways.
He said the problems he experienced were selling the DVD to people as council police arrested anyone selling wares in the streets.
“I went to look for fellow ex-prisoners after my release so that we could work together in the musical project. If only we were allowed to sell the DVDs in the streets we would get money to pay rent and buy food for ourselves. I tried to approach City Council to ask them to allow us to sell our DVD. The other department we approached for funding was the Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Ministry but have not yet got any response,” he said.
Chiweshe, from Mbare, also narrated his own life story saying he was arrested in 1998 for armed robbery before he was released in October 2009.
He was booked into prison during the Zimbabwe dollar era and had savings of about Z$167 from the sale of stolen cellphones and computer hard drives, but when he was released from prison he was shocked to find that the currency had changed to US dollars.
“I came from a poor background and resorted to crime. However, my situation was worsened by the fact that my parents both passed away while I was in prison – my mother died in 2002 and my father in 2007. When I was released I found my younger brother and sister suffering and my sister had four children from different men. I had to look after them but could not find a job,” he said. Chiweshe said they went to stay with their grandmother, but she also passed away in 2010.
“I got married in 2011 and had a child, but I had no source of income. We could spend four days without proper meals and I resorted to criminal activity and stole maize at Musana in Shamva which I sold in Mozambique. I was jailed for two months, but was later released because of lack of evidence. In 2012, I met my fellow prisoner Kawere who advised me to repent and follow Jesus, but I did not listen because I was suffering and stealing was the only source of income. I then resorted to stealing people’s cell phones, lap tops and computer hardware in different cities such as Kwekwe, Bulawayo and areas such as Wedza, Beitbridge and Murambinda, until I was nabbed in Kwekwe,” he said.
He served a six-month jail term where he said he suffered severe beatings from law enforcement agents who wanted him to confess that he stole computer gadgets.
He said he lost some of his teeth during the beatings.
“Kawere did not give up on me and he continued visiting and encouraging me to repent. I finally repented after listening to a powerful sermon at ZAOGA church and since then I have been helping to sell Kawere’s DVD. During my eleven-year term at Chikurubi Maximum Prison, I joined the drama and music group and we used to perform at stadiums as the prison group.” Chiweshe said he had never planned to go back to prison, but the economic conditions in the country forced him to do so. “Ex-prisoners are experiencing a lot of challenges. If you see someone resorting to crime again after being discharged from prison, it is not because of laziness or the love of mischief. It is because the economy is in a bad shape – there are no jobs – ex-prisoners cannot be employed and we are shunned when we approach different organisations to access money for self help projects. We are the condemned people for life even after we try to exhibit that we are willing to live harmoniously with the rest of society,” Chiweshe said.
In the case of Sora, he was jailed for five counts of armed robbery after stealing from mostly white people in the leafy suburbs of Harare. Sora was slapped with a 24-year sentence for the five counts of robbery in 1999 at Chikurubi Maximum Prison, but he spent 10 years and was released in October 2009 after exhibiting good behaviour.
“I was a married man with one kid before my prison term, but after spending ten years in prison I found my wife already taken and married to someone else in Gokwe. I benefited from prison education because I was booked after acquiring a form two certificate but I attended lessons in prison and studied for “O” Levels. Unfortunately I did not sit for the exams as prisons could not afford to pay exam fees for us. I also studied theology while I was in prison but could not sit for the exams. When I was transferred to the ‘B’ class section and deployed at Bindura prison I did poultry farming as part of my rehabilitation programmes,” he said.
Sora said his parents passed away while he was imprisoned and upon release he went to his rural home at Madziva in Mashonaland Central where he thought it was going to be easy to start a poultry project but he was wrong.
“I thought the organisations that helped with rehabilitation of prisoners during incarceration were going to accept us and support us after our release, but they told us to fend for ourselves. I was however lucky in that my brother’s son was a pastor at Kuwadzana Baptist Church and he accepted me and gave me a job as a caretaker at Redemption College within the church premises. I was given accommodation. However, while some church members were happy that I had reformed and had embraced Christianity, others vehemently opposed the idea of taking in an ex-prisoner.
“When my brother’s son was transferred from Kuwadzana Baptist Church, I was given notice that I should vacate. I noted that the world was not ready to accept ex-convicts after I was rejected by my own church. However, I believe that ex-prisoners can reform and with support from members of the public we can try to earn a living for ourselves,” he said.
The three said their experiences after prison proved ex-convicts were condemned for life by society.
They said although they were thankful that the prison department had good programmes to ensure prisoners fended for themselves after release, it was imperative to have programmes to assist prisoners financially after they were released so that they did not resort to criminal activity.
An ex-prisoner who is female who refused to give her name said she was booked in jail for one month after beating up a woman during a fight. She said after release from prison economic hardships forced her to resort to prostitution, until her aunt got her a job as a bar tender at aMbare pub where she is currently working and gets paid $120 per month.
“The economic situation is so difficult and we are struggling to pay rent and buy clothing and food. We were once offered a farm and a tractor by a well wisher called Sithole, but we failed to get inputs like seeds. We approached SEDCO for assistance but they said we had come late,” said Kawere.
A recent report on Pre-Trial Detention in Zimbabwe by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and Law Society of Zimbabwe said there were gaps in rehabilitation of prisoners.
“All rehabilitation programmes need funding to be successful. For example, inmates who need to be trade tested or write “O” and “A” Level examinations need money to be able to register, but most of the time the Zimbabwe Prison Services (ZPS) does not have the money. Workshops where inmates are taught different trades have archaic machinery that is no longer functional thus making learning difficult. Rehabilitation programmes do not get any meaningful funding because the ZPS is channelling most of its resources to the upkeep of inmates,” they said.
The report said with insufficient budgetary allocations and poor conditions of service, institutions such as the prisons will not be able to effectively deliver key services, such as the rehabilitation of offenders.
