BY NQOBANI NDLOVU
OUTSPOKEN Ntabazinduna traditional leader, Chief Felix Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni, has revealed that he used his incarceration period in August to write a book on the country’s appalling prison conditions.
Ndiweni spent time at Khami Maximum Prison on the outskirts of Bulawayo after he was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment following his conviction alongside 23 other villagers for destroying one of his subjects’ property.
His co-accused, 23 other villagers, were given community service sentences.
Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Thompson Mabhikwa, however, granted Ndiweni $500 bail pending appeal against both conviction and sentence for destroying property belonging to his subject, Fetti Mbele.
On Tuesday, Ndiweni bemoaned appalling conditions at Khami Maximum Prison and revealed that he used his jail time to write a book on what needs to be done to refurbish the correctional holding centre in Bulawayo.
“I am not afraid of prison. There are good people there, who made my stay at Khami comfortable,” he said.
“However, the infrastructure there is old and needs refurbishment to improve living conditions. I used my time there to start writing a book on what needs to be done, particularly the need for private public partnerships to refurbish the prison and improve living conditions for inmates,” Ndiweni told journalists in Bulawayo on Tuesday.
Government has on several occasions been urged to increase budget allocations to the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) and enter partnerships with other stakeholders to improve inmates’ living conditions.
