HARARE -Prisons commissioner Paradzayi Zimondi (Pictured) has transformed the Zimbabwe Prison Service (ZPS) into a quasi-military corps, running the correctional service as his personal fiefdom, disgruntled prison officers told The Zimbabwean this week..

They recounted how Zimondi had transmogrified the prison service from its duty to provide correctional services into a full military wing.

Sources revealed systematic plunder of the prison service by the commissioner, and how State resources had been diverted to bankroll Zimondi’s myriad personal enterprises.

Officers said food had been allegedly seized from prisons, leaving prisoners in despair.

After the March 2008 harmonised poll, prison officers recalled how Zimondi seized 100 cattle and 10 horses from Chikurubi Farm, and transferred all prison pigs to his farm. He is said to have brought famished cattle in to replace the heifers he allegedly looted.

Zimondi would seize milk and fresh produce from the farm prison and take it to his restaurant in Ruwa, called Plaka.

“He took building materials from the ZPS stores and built a dairy at his farm in Bromley,” said one officer. “Builders, electricians, carpenters were made to do the work. He built houses in Harare. I worked on some of the projects. We built a house in Milton Park, renovated one in Gunhill, and built a house for the (Justice and legal Affairs) permanent secretary, David Mangota in Donnybrooke using government materials stolen from the ZPS stores,” he said.

Other equipment was also said to have been taken to Zimondi’s two other farms in Shamva and Bindura. There are unconfirmed reports that he co-owns a banana plantation with police commissioner-general Augustine Chihuri.

It was further alleged Zimondi had properties in Kariba, where he is involved in a poaching ring slaughtering elephants for ivory. To over up the tracks, the meat is given to prisoners, but most of the time it is going bad. “He uses prison vehicles to transport the bodies of elephants,” said the officer. “Prison vehicles are not searched at roadblocks, making easy passage.”

Poaching

The poaching was said to be taking place in Gonarezhou and Hwange. The Zimbabwean heard that these activities had been going on since April 2009.

“He has also built a church in Murehwa using prison materials,” another source said.

Officers say that as far back as 1999, Zimondi established a military police branch at the ZPS. From 2001, he brought in soldiers from the Zimbabwe National Army to head all prison departments at the expense of experienced officers, who were forced into early retirement or moved from headquarters to work in prisons.

These military personnel include commissioners Ndlovu, Chihobvu – head of security; Kanonge – finance; Dube – construction, Maredza – projects and Ndebele – quartermaster.

Officers spoke exclusively to this newspaper about the purge of the prison service by Zimondi over the past decade, recounting in meticulous detail harassment and torture of officers suspected of being sympathetic to the MDC.

“From 2000, Zimondi controlled the ZPS cruelly. When Zanu (PF) lost to the MDC (in 2000), Zimondi formed the prisons military police to control and suppress MDC sympathisers in the ZPS. Torture of officers began. When Tendai Biti won the Harare East (constituency) in 2000, he held a celebration rally at Gletwyn Farm near Chikurubi. Officers who attended the rally were arrested and tortured. Some were discharged from their duties. The case was brought before the Rotten Row Magistrates Court. The perpetrators were found innocent and went back to work.”

The tortured officers were named as Shepherd Yuda, Andew Mabidi, Officer Njiri, Officer Bvunzawabaya and Officer Masarakufa, who has sine left the prison service and is now an MDC-T councillor in Mhondoro.

The situation worsened dramatically during the run-up to the sham June 27, 2008 run-off polls. At the heart of Zimondi’s terror campaign were asst commissioner Pambai, the officer-in-charge at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison, the chief superintendent, the superintendent, principal prison officer (PPO), Gavhu, PPO Ndebele, prison officer Choto, prison officer Gonzo, prison officer Moffat, Makurudzo, PPO Malunga, prison officer Nyakahembe, PPO Ngulube.

A security department, allegedly manned by central intelligence organisation operatives Makurudzo, Mthombeni and Nyakahembe masquerading as prison officer, was formed. Efforts to obtain comment from Zimondi were futile at the time of going to print. The ZPS public relations requested written questions, which have been submitted.

Written by Taurai Bande

HARARE-A semi-autonomous group of the Roman Catholic Church, Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (SSVP), recently bank rolled Zimbabwe’s prison farm projects to the tune of US$6 000.

The society made up of voluntary members of the church, mobilized resources to alleviate suffering among prisoners, following revelations by the South Africa Broadcasting Cooperation (SABC), that inmates in Zimbabwe’s prisons were starving and living under inhuman conditions.”We were touched by pictures of skinny prison inmates shown by the SABC, and decided to assist in whatever way possible. Initially, we donated food for inmates at various prisons across the country. To provide lasting solutions to prison woes, we decided to capacitate prisons through resuscitating collapsed farm projects. We rehabilitated irrigation equipment at Chikurubi maximum prison farm and provided farm inputs such as seed, fuel and dipping chemicals for a herd of 300 cattle at the farm,” said SSVP secretary general and president of Harare district council, Michael Mangwende.

Mangwende said: “Following the rehabilitation of irrigation equipment at Chikurubi, the prison is now in a position to provide its own vegetables for its inmates. The church society managed to resuscitate and put an 11 hectare vegetable garden under irrigation. Previously, inmates used to water the garden with cans. The project cost US$5 000. At Mazoe prison, SSVP injected US$1 000 in a four hectare vegetable project. Ridigita Prison in Marondera also benefited from our assistance to the tune of $700 for a four hectare vegetable scheme. Our assistance thrust is aimed at achieving total resuscitation of the country’s 24 prison farms,” he said.

Following revelations of shocking pictures by the SABC, SSVP also donated 800 blankets, soap and cooking oil to inmates held at eight prisons out of Harare. Each prison received 100 blankets. The society is currently assessing clothing requirements for inmates, ahead of a planed donation of prisoners’ uniforms. In the past, SSVP donated blankets and food to victims of Muzarabani floods, the cholera epidemic and orphans left by cholera victims. The food packs lasted four months. SSVP is funded by well-wishers, the Roman Catholic church and the church’s Arch-bishop.

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Editor’s comment: Once more the teflon Prison’s boss Paradzai Zimondi, who has presided over the looting and destruction of the prison farms, remains completely silent, ducking the issue and dodging the blame.

Why doesn’t the Minister of Home Affairs FIRE him?

A television documentary produced with hidden cameras in Beitbridge  in March 2009 featured these emaciated prisoners.

By Our Correspondent

HARARE – There were scenes of jubilation and celebration at Harare Central Prison on Friday as relatives reunited with their loved ones as they were released  freed from prison after serving terms of incarceration.Prison authorities began releasing hordes of inmates who are beneficiaries of a recent order of clemency extended to 2 500 convicts by President Robert Mugabe.

While the total number of beneficiaries of the presidential amnesty was first reported in the state media last week as 1 544, Zimbabwe Prison Service public relations officer, Elizabeth Banda, told journalists Friday the actual number of those to be freed was 2 513.

Among those granted amnesty were all women prisoners, inmates serving three-year terms who had completed a quarter of their sentence, as well as those in open prisons and life inmates who had served 20 or more years.

The amnesty excluded prisoners jailed for serious crimes including murder, rape and vehicle hijacking.

Officials say that while Zimbabwe’s prison have a holding capacity of 17 000 inmates, the current population is about 13 000.

Elated relatives said they had been living in fear of losing their loved ones to hunger and disease in Zimbabwe’s notorious jails.

Close to 1 000 prisoners are reported to have died in Zimbabwe’s jails between January and June this year.

The death rate is said to have since dropped from three per week to two.

“I cannot believe this. For the past two nights I have not had sleep trying to contain my happiness. I will never move near a jail again,” said a visibly elated Lovemore Bvuno (63), who was released from Harare Central prison after serving for 23 years.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1986 for murder.

Christopher Munyoro (64), who had served 25 years of a life sentence for the murder of his employer, said he felt born again.

Munyoro, whose entire family died of hunger and disease while he was in prison, said he was apologetic to both his victim and family.

Toendepi Mahaso, who volunteered to speak on behalf of a batch of 30 newly freed prisoners who were paraded for their final briefing by prison officers, said he was thankful to President Mugabe for the clemency.

“I say thank you very much to the President Robert Gabriel Mugabe,” he said, speaking in English. “I say thank you very much for the clemency.

“Sometimes justice has got to be tempered with mercy. Justice must have a human face and we have seen the human face of justice today by being released before our EDR (Expected Date of Release).

“We promise we are going to behave, to do very well out there. This is not the end of the world. Imprisonment is not the end of life, this is actually the beginning of a new life. Our old life has been destroyed and we are given a new lease of life.

“That is what we have received.”

The amnesty is an attempt by the current inclusive government to ease congestion in Zimbabwe’s 42 jails.

The jails are now viewed as death camps because of their poor sanitary conditions and a perennial shortage of food and medical drugs.

The country’s prisons did not survive the deadly cholera epidemic which broke out mid-last year killing 4 000 and living more than 80 000 hospitalised.

The epidemic was only contained after the intervention of humanitarian aid groups which brought medicine and other forms of assistance that helped suppress the continued spread of the dreaded disease.

HARARE-With nowhere else to run and few people left to blame, President Robert Mugabe has conceded that the country’s prison system has collapsed while inmates continue to succumb to treatable diseases.

So serious is the situation that President Mugabe was forced to make an order that has been cited as the Clemency Order No 1 of 2009 through the government gazette Vol LXXXVII, No 60 of 21 August 2009 which serves to release inmates from custody in a variety of categories.

At least 1 544 inmates are expected to benefit from the President’s mercy.

The dire circumstances had led to trials failing to take place effectively trampling on the constitutional rights of suspects and prisoners.

Last month, the Justice Ministry committed itself to alleviating the plight of prisoners whose death toll had risen to over 1000 in the first four months of the year.

In light of the above and the in concurrence with the 100 day government plan, the Zimbabwe Prison Service through its acting public relations officer Elizabeth Banda said: “Due to inadequate financial resources coupled with the unfavorable economic environment, the ZPS has faced challenges in fulfilling its set objectives and statutory obligations which include provision of prisoners’ rations, clothing and bedding, toiletries and transport among others.

“As a short term relief option to try and contain some of these challenges seriously and negatively impacting on the effective and efficient administration of prisoners, a proposal to have a general amnesty granted to inmates was submitted to the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs.”

Categories which have been cited include; full remission of remainder of sentences for convicted female prisoners, save for those serving for specified offences, full remission of remainder of sentences for convicted juveniles, full remission of sentences for prisoners sentenced to 36 months and below who will have served a quarter of their sentences save for those serving specified offences, full remission of remaining period of imprisonment to all terminally ill prisoners upon certification by a prison medical officer of government medical officer of the fact that they are unlikely to survive their prison terms provided they are not serving for specified offences.”

Banda said a full remission of sentence has been granted to all inmates serving terms of imprisonment at open prisons provided they are not serving specified offences.

She added that all inmates sentenced to life in prison or to long terms of imprisonment on or before May 31 1989 and have served 20 years of more have also been granted full remission of the remaining period of imprisonment.
Prisoners excluded from amnesty include those on death row, habitual criminals serving a sentence of extended imprisonment, any person who escaped from custody and is still at large, person on bail pending appeal against conviction or sentence, persons serving sentences imposed by a court martial and persons serving sentences of imprisonment for a specified offence.

Specified offences include murder, rape or any sexual offence, carjacking, armed robbery, stock theft, tampering with apparatus for generating, transmitting, distributing or supplying electricity with results of electricity interruption or cutting off and damaging destroying or interfering with any apparatus for generating transmitting distributing or supplying electricity. Conspiracy and being an accessory to the offences above.

Zimbabwe Prison Service (ZPS) Deputy Commissioner Washington Chimboza said the service was unable to feed or clothe prisoners to the standards prescribed by law, adding that authorities had not been to observe the rights of prisoners over the last three years.

Chimboza, who was addressing a workshop on prisoner’s rights organised by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), said: “The Zimbabwe Prison Service has been unable to satisfy any of its mandatory obligations due to the fact that we were heavily incapacitated . . . we have now become an embarrassment to the criminal justice system.”

The ZPS official said prisons were required under the law to provide adequate food to inmates but were unable to do so due to budgetary constraints.

“Food commodities spelt out in the statutory instrument have not been able to be provided. Since 2006 we have experienced the worst and highest death rate in the history of the service. The most severe cases were experienced in 2008 where pellagra was rampant in our prisons,” said Chimboza.

Zimbabwe has 72 prisons carrying 12 971 prisoners, according to Chimboza.

The ZPS official said most of the prisoners walked semi-naked every day because ZPS cannot afford prison uniform for both inmates and staff. The water and food situation was “very poor” at most prisons, he said.

He said ZPS was using only two pots to cook for 2 000 inmates at Chikurubi:
“The little food procured has not been prepared under healthy conditions since all the cooking pots we had have seen their days. We have resorted to using drums sourced from the neighboring Larfage Cement.

“Even after we cook the food, we don’t have plates and other utensils. Prisoners have had to rely on lunch boxes and empty ice cream containers from relatives to use as plates,” said Chimboza.

He said the situation was equally dire for lowly paid staff whose working conditions had deteriorated.

He said lack of accommodation had resulted in prison officers renting houses or rooms from prisoners. – Simplicious Chirinda, ZimOnline.

HARARE, July 11 2009 – The Judge President, Rita Makarau, yesterday said it is the duty of  all judicial officers to protect the rights of prisoners.

Makarau was speaking at a meeting of human and prisoner’s rights  stakeholders organised by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) in Harare.

“It is the duty of all judicial officers to protect the rights of prisoners. They must be invited to these training workshops and trainings,” said Makarau.

“Prisoners do have rights and at the High Court we are guided by the provisions of the Supreme Court and that should also be applied down to the magistrate courts.”

Makarau’s colleague and fellow High Court judge, Charles Hungwe, also told the meeting that the business of protecting the rights of prisoners does not only lie with the prisons.

“The magistrates can make unscheduled visits to any prisons. In future it will be appropriate for the Provincial Magistrate to keep an eye on what is happening at the prisons rather than just (viewing) the magistrates’ courts. They must make more frequent visits to the prisons to see what should be done,” said Hungwe.

Hungwe said he had to personally intervene to try and save the situation at Mutare prison which had become overcrowded because of the huge number of people who were arrested in the Chiadzwa diamond fields.

“Mutare Prison was overcrowded. There was a sudden influx of prisoners due to the Chiadzwa diamond rush. The police were bussing three 75-seater buses full of prisoners to court but after the granting of bail the prisoners could not pay bail,” said Hungwe.

“The result was that at some stage food stocks ran out and prisoners had to sleep standing, I made the decision to release the accused on free bail,” said Hungwe.

Speaking at the same meeting an official from the Zimbabwe Prison Service (ZPS) painted a bleak picture of the prisons.

“The Zimbabwe Prison Service has been unable to satisfy any of its mandatory obligations due to the fact that we were heavily incapacitated. We have now become an embarrassment to the criminal justice system,” said Washington Chimboza, the Deputy Commissioner of Prisons.

According to the Prisons General Regulations of 1996 the Zimbabwe Prison Services should provide adequate food to inmates but has been failing to do so.

“Food commodities spelt out in the statutory instrument have not been provided. Since 2006 we have experienced the worst and highest death rate in the history of the service. The most severe cases were experienced in 2008 when pellagra was rampant in our prisons,” said Chimboza.

“Malnutrition acted as a catalyst to most deaths given that where cases of opportunistic infections were evident, it was impossible to commence medication since there was no food in the country in general and particularly in the prisons.”

The Prison Service requires 500 tonnes of maize-meal a month to feed a prison population of 13 000 inmates. The Grain Marketing Board (GMB) is supposed to supply ZPS with these requirements but has not been able to do so.

ZPS administers a total of 46 prisons and 26 satellite prisons throughout the country. These prisons include the old type built at the turn of the last century, such as the Harare Central Prison, Masvingo Remand Prison and modern structures built after independence such as Kadoma, Mutare Farm, Chipinge and Khami Maximum Prisons. While the official holding capacity is 17 000, Deputy Chimboza said that the current prison population stands at around 12 971, comprising 10 299 convicted and 2 672 remand prisoners.

The female population stands at 694.

“Our inability to honour such a mandatory obligation has caused untold suffering to the inmate population in our custody,” said Chimboza.

“The little food procured has not been prepared under healthy conditions since all the cooking pots we had have seen their days. Of the 26 pots at Chikurubi Maximum none is working and this has led to the creation of a temporary kitchen where cast iron pots are in use.”

“We have resorted to using drums sourced from neighbouring Lafarge Cement.”

He added that they had not been able to transport inmates to court for either remand or trial to the extend of requesting that the canteen at Marondera Prison be converted into a court house for further remand.

“The security vehicles, the only four Mercedes Benz Atego trucks have been parked since August 2008 because we could not afford to repair and service them,” said Chimboza.

Chimboza said the water situation has been equally dire.

“The water situation in our prisons is very poor. Chikurubi Prison Complex has gone for five years without ZINWA providing any water,” said Chimboza.

“This shortage has seen the birth of water borne diseases due to inadequate cleanliness.”

The government recently passed a resolution allowing relatives of inmates to provide clothing and other necessities to prisoners. Chimboza said the community will have to come on board to safe the situation.

“Inmates do not lose their right to health care by virtue of being in custody,” said Chimboza.

- www.TheZimbabweTimes.com