Employ former inmates — Minister

Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
THE corporate world has been encouraged to employ and accept former inmates as a means of integrating them back into society as they will have transformed after serving their time.

Minister of State for Provincial Affairs in Bulawayo Nomthandazo Eunice Moyo said this in a speech read on her behalf by her personal assistant Mrs Sichelesile Ncube at the Africa Prisons and Correctional Services Day commemorations in Nguboyenja yesterday.

In an effort to reduce cases of re-offending, the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service (ZPCS) includes empowerment aspects in its correctional systems. These have seen inmates attaining educational and professional qualifications from different institutions such as the University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Open University and Institute of Personnel Management in Zimbabwe.

“Most of these inmates sit for their Ordinary and Advanced Level examinations while serving their sentences. Given the above the ZPCS is therefore appealing to the citizens of Zimbabwe to accent and employ them in their companies after their release bearing in mind that they are transformed,” she said.

The Minister of State said since the advent of freedom and democracy in Zimbabwe there had been significant progress in transforming the prison and correctional system.

ZPCS has gone a step further by establishing a correctional centre which is Connemara Open Prison which houses male inmates in an open prison environment.

Officer Commanding Bulawayo Metropolitan Province Senior Assistant Commissioner Mailosi Jomane said the commemorations were an opportunity to show the outside world what the service was doing to transform inmates.

“This day gives an opportunity for the society to witness what we as ZPCS are doing in our transformation and rehabilitation efforts in changing the lives of our dear citizens within our institutions for the better. We remain committed in ensuring that we will live and deliver as demanded by our constitutional mandate and in line with the dynamic environment we are operating in for our objectives to be attained. This however, calls for concerted efforts from all stakeholders as the service does not operate in isolation,” he said.

The public relations officer for Bulawayo Metropolitan Province, Principal Correctional Officer Garainashe Moyo, said before, the service was not a rehabilitative one.

The ZPCS says research has shown that the provision of appropriate rehabilitation programmes that focus on effective methods of bringing about change in an offender’s functioning may have a significant impact on reducing crime.