Prison bosses grant inmate leave to attend UZ graduation ceremony
A Zimbabwean prisoner serving time for unlawful entry has been allowed to leave prison temporarily to attend the University of Zimbabwe graduation ceremony where he received an honours degree in Biological Sciences.
Robert Zivengwa, 30, was granted permission by the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service to attend the ceremony last week, five months after he was jailed. He completed his studies while serving a 24-month sentence and graduated with an Upper Second Class degree, commonly known as a 2:1, with microbiology and genetics as his areas of specialisation.
The rare sight of a graduate arriving in prison clothing drew attention at the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show in Harare, where Zivengwa appeared at the ZPCS exhibition stand wearing his prison garb and graduation cap. Visitors took turns congratulating him and asked how he had managed to complete his studies and attend the ceremony while in custody.
Zivengwa said the opportunity had forced him to confront the choices that brought him before the courts and had also shown him what could still be achieved through education.
“I failed my family members and friends by engaging in criminal activities that led me to be convicted in March this year. I want to thank the ZPCS rehabilitation officers for correcting my mistakes and the Commissioner General Chihobvu for according me the chance to leave the prison cells to be among the graduates,” said Zivengwa.
He added: “I have come to know the power of knowledge and the dangers of abusing knowledge. I have also realised that crime does not pay. I am looking forward to using my knowledge to empower others and the nation at large.”
Zivengwa said he hopes to use his scientific training after completing his sentence. He described his next step as “joining clinical laboratories and research counsellors.”
His appearance at the agricultural show gave members of the public a close view of the education and skills programmes being offered inside Zimbabwe’s prisons. The stand also featured Charlington Timba, 41, a motor mechanic serving a 10-year sentence for robbery. Timba, who was convicted in September 2022, attracted visitors by demonstrating some of his mechanical skills.
The two men offered contrasting examples of the opportunities available to inmates. Zivengwa’s achievement came through university education, while Timba used practical training to show how a trade can be developed during a prison sentence. Together, their stories presented the correctional service’s rehabilitation work in a highly visible setting, away from the prison environment.
Zivengwa’s graduation is the latest in a series of education milestones involving inmates across the country. On Thursday, 73 prisoners from Khami Medium and Maximum Prisons graduated at Bulawayo Polytechnic College during the institution’s 97th graduation ceremony. The group consisted of 68 men and five women who completed short courses in boiler making, hospitality and food preparation, plumbing, carpentry, auto mechanics, bricklaying, house wiring, tailoring, cosmetology, mechanics, animal husbandry and crop production.
The qualifications gave the graduates a range of practical skills that can be used in formal employment or self-employment after release. Inmate graduates have spoken of the programmes as a way to prepare for life outside prison and to rebuild their lives through work.
One of the graduates, Emmanuel Ncube, said becoming a boilermaker had given him hope of starting again after prison.
“I extend my appreciation to the Second Republic led by President Mnangagwa. I was chosen to be part of this programme and this has brought a future for me because I know one day I will get out of prison and pursue this profession,” he said.
Another graduate, Mandlenkosi Ndlovu, said he had used his time in prison to change his life and called on other inmates to take up educational opportunities.
“We are asking for forgiveness from the families of those I wronged, including the victim. I have transformed my life and look forward to contributing to the development of my country once out of prison,” he said.
“The ZPCS must really be commended for this programme and I call upon fellow inmates not to be shy in taking up such initiatives,” he said.
Lungisani Mazanga graduated in crop production and animal husbandry. He said he had selected the courses because he wanted to contribute to food production after his release.
“I salute the ZPCS for affording me this chance. I chose these courses because I want to ensure that Zimbabwe returns to its status as the breadbasket for the continent by 2030,” said Mazanga, who oversees organic gardens at the prison.
The Bulawayo graduation followed a separate ceremony at Khami Remand Prison in January, where 52 inmates and three prison officers completed a six-month theology programme. The course was delivered through a partnership involving Greater Grace Bible College and Teach Every Nation, with classes held fortnightly for four hours at a time. Students completed assignments, sat in-class tests and wrote final examinations before graduating.
The programme included inmates serving sentences of different lengths, including Rodney Jindu, who is serving a double life sentence for murder. Prison officials and the course organisers said the initiative was designed to support spiritual development, personal change and assistance among inmates.
“It is not easy to rehabilitate inmates on our own. We thank God for partners like Greater Grace Bible College, who assist us in this important work. Our doors remain open for such initiatives,” said Chief Superintendent Fortune Ngwenya, the officer-in-charge of Khami Remand Prison.
Vocational training has also been expanded through partnerships outside the prison service. Don Bosco Technical College in Hwange has provided free training to selected inmates in bricklaying, dressmaking and other technical skills. The programme takes 10 inmates in each cycle, and graduates are provided with starter tools that can help them seek employment or begin small businesses when they leave prison.
Father Simba Muza, the college principal, said the training was intended to give inmates practical skills and a route towards self-reliance. One participant, Simbarashe Sibanda, said he had expected to leave prison with little more than the memory of his sentence but instead received training in bricklaying.
“I have only a few months left in prison, and the college has offered me a diploma in bricklaying. When I started my sentence, I never thought I would come out with such skills,” Sibanda said.
For Zivengwa, however, the immediate focus was not only on the qualification but on the responsibility that comes with it. His comments at the agricultural show showed a clear awareness that academic success could not erase the conduct that led to his imprisonment. He spoke instead about using the remaining part of his sentence to change direction and prepare for a different future.
His progress has also become a source of encouragement for other inmates who are studying behind prison walls. The university degree, the Bulawayo Polytechnic certificates, the theology qualification and the vocational diplomas all point to the same message: a prison sentence can contain punishment, but it can also contain education, discipline and preparation for a return to society.
As visitors gathered around the ZPCS stand, Zivengwa stood in his prison uniform with the symbol of his academic achievement above it. The image captured the tension between the sentence he is serving and the future he is trying to build. For the 30-year-old graduate, the graduation cap represented not an escape from accountability, but a chance to leave prison with knowledge that could be put to work in clinical laboratories, research and the wider community.