The Sunday News
Marvelous Moyo Gwanda Correspondent
A GWANDA Prison escapee was found dead in Mtshabezi River last week on Sunday afternoon, almost two weeks after his disappearance. The body was found floating in the river close to Mtshabezi Dam wall and was discovered by Sifelani Ndlovu who was fishing in the river. The now deceased prisoner, who was identified as Bukhosi Sibanda, 23, of Silalabuwa village in Matobo disappeared on 5 August, while he was working in a prison garden near Gwanda Prison Camp in the company of other inmates.
The prison camp accommodates prison officers and their families. Principal Prison Officer Garainashe Moyo, the Matabeleland region public relations officer, confirmed the incident.
“It’s actually true that the dead body of a prisoner was retrieved from Mtshabezi River. We managed to identify him because he was wearing short trousers worn by prisoners. His shirt was found about 200 metres from where the body was spotted,” he said.
The body was retrieved in an area about a kilometre from the prison garden.
Mr Moyo said Sibanda who was serving a 30-month sentence for assault, sneaked unnoticed while working with other inmates at the prison vegetable garden at around 1pm on 5 August.
The sentence was passed on 15 June 2015 meaning that he had only served about two months of the jail term.
PPO Moyo said the search for Sibanda continued to an extent that officers had to go as far as his home area in Matobo but he was nowhere to be found. His relatives are said to have indicated that they had not seen him. A report of a prison escapee was made to the police. The cause of Sibanda’s death is, however, yet to be known.
“Investigations on the matter are in progress. The body has been taken for a post mortem to ascertain the cause of death,” said PPO Moyo.
This reporter was however, denied access to the vegetable garden where the prisoner is said to have gone missing. Residents at the Prison Camp said they suspected that Sibanda could have attempted to swim across the river to attain his freedom but failed and drowned.
“Since he was unfamiliar with this place, we suspect that when he ran away he didn’t know that there is a river nearby but when he got there he could not turn back but tried to cross the river where he could have met his death,” said a resident who requested anonymity. Those who attended the scene when Sibanda’s body was retrieved described it as a scary scene since the skin had peeled off and the whole body had turned pink save for one hand whose skin was still intact.
They said the body was swollen and the deceased was still wearing his shoes.
Matabeleland South provincial police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Loveness Mangena also confirmed the incident.
“We confirm that a body of a male adult identified as Bukhosi Sibanda was found floating in Mtshabezi River on Sunday at around 10am,” she said.
