ZANU PF central committee member Mike Chimombe (MC) was recently slapped with a 12-year jail term in case involving an US$87 million Presidential goat scheme tender. He is serving time at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison together with his friend and business partner, Moses Mpofu. During a open family week at the prison, Chimombe sat down with our Digital Editor Blessed Mhlanga (ND) on his experience so far. Find excerpts below:
ND: You were convicted of fraud and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Did you feel like your life had just ended?
MC: Honestly, I thought my lawyers had done enough to secure an acquittal for me and even my friend; we were confident that the courts would see that our hands were clean and that there was a commitment on the part of Blackdeck Private Limited to fulfil all the conditions of the contract.
I have respect for President Emmerson Mnangagwa and would never steal money meant to ensure that his Vision 2030 of an upper-middle-class economy is achieved.
It is for this reason that I have instructed my lawyers to approach the Supreme Court to appeal the High Court judgment. I strongly believe a different court will arrive at a different ruling. So my life is just starting, not ending.
ND: How do you convince yourself that you may get a different ruling, when there are whispers that this matter is far from a criminal matter, it's political?
MC: My lawyers have cautioned me against speaking about the merits of the appeal, so I will not explain why I feel we have a strong case. I am, however, convinced that the Judiciary will exercise its mind fairly when the appeal is heard. I will also not comment on the allegations that this matter is political or not, but if we choose that path, how come people like Job Sikhala, who are opposition political players, were acquitted? I believe that justice will be delivered, albeit slowly.
ND: You talk of justice being slow; you have been in prison for nearly two years, seemingly incarcerated by your own colleagues from Zanu PF. Has this changed your feelings towards them and are you considering dumping politics?
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MC: To the contrary, I remain Zanu PF to the core — as regards my colleagues, it has taken two years of reflection, soul searching, recalibration and contrition, and on a balance of scales, one would say “let bygones be bygones”.
I have a whole future ahead of me beckoning, a family waiting, party business stalled and a constituency orphaned for two years also waiting in the background.
When I return, I will do so in service to my country; that’s what matters, lessons learnt. You must also know that prison itself is a constituency and while I wait for my appeal, we have started work to push the agenda of nation-building and the President’s vision.
ND: Many people believe your arrest was caused by your fallout with Wicknell Chivayo; you guys appeared to be very good friends before. Is there a possibility of reconciliation?
MC: The case for which l have been convicted has nothing to do with Wicknell Chivayo and I do not intend to drag him into a matter that has nothing to do with him.
Regarding our fallout, lessons were learnt and we picked up from there. The past two years were enough healing time for me. We will obviously consider each other brothers and will opt for a fresh start, inevitably. We will hug again as brothers in Zanu PF and there are no permanent enemies in politics; in fact, we are united in purpose for Vision 2030 going forward.
ND: You have been fighting for your freedom for the past two years as the world moves on and one of the major events that happened was the 22nd Zanu PF conference held in Mutare, where a resolution was made to extend Mnangagwa’s term of office.
MC: Dhara, we shared almost three months at Harare Remand Prison and by now you should know that I am a bona fide member of the central committee and graduate of our ideological school, Herbert Chitepo, and bound by collective decisions of the party and 22nd conference, which l followed virtually and spiritually.
Obviously, resolution number one precedes all other resolutions and l endorse it as all comrades did, and through the Economic Empowerment Group, which I preside over and is patroned by the President himself, I even renewed my commitment to Vision 2030 on the occasion of the President’s birthday in September, notwithstanding the limitations of Harare Remand Prison.
ND: You moved from Harare Remand Prison to Chikurubi Maximum. How has it been for you? I am told the place is overcrowded.
MC: It’s been two years since I was arrested and I have been staying in prison since then. Yes, there is overcrowding at some point, but efforts are always being made to ensure that the prison population does not go beyond it's capacity.
The officer-in-charge here has tried to ensure that prisoners do not see themselves as condemned persons but are rehabilitated and ready to be released into society. Problems are there and obviously, this is not a hotel, but I am happy that an effort is being made and we feel it as prisoners.
ND: How is the food here? Some people have commented that you look healthier inside than you have been outside.
MC: Like I said, effort is being made to ensure that we do not feel like condemned persons — of course, the food is not as good as that we would get from home, this is prison, but we do get three meals a day, we get bread, porridge with peanut butter.
My family has told me about these comments that come from people, with some asking if we are really being kept in prison or if we stay at home. I think it is because there is a wrong perception about prison life; if you have never been here, you will never understand even if I try to explain because at one point, I never understood.
ND: How has prison life been for you?
MC: You do know the importance of freedom and the challenges of imprisonment because you have once been here and that’s one of the main reason I agreed to have this interview with
you. Freedom is a very important aspect of human life.
However, I want to state that we have made the best of the situation, made friends and also tried to help the less fortunate who find themselves in prison. For me, it’s been the support we have
received from friends and family over the past two years.
Even as we came to Chikurubi, we have adjusted and already, as I speak to you, we have started a project of establishing a tree nursery so that we can help from prison to deal with deforestation. We must never stop planning because we have suffered setbacks.
ND: The courts ordered you to pay back the money you defrauded the government, the people of Zimbabwe. Are you going to pay back the money?
MC: We have noted an appeal of that judgment.
