Prison Officer Helped Me Escape From Plumtree Prison, Says Convicted Rapist
An escaped prisoner has told a Bulawayo court that a Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) officer helped him plan and carry out a jailbreak from Plumtree Prison.
Cabangani Mathe, who was serving a 20-year sentence for rape, escaped on 15 November 2025 by allegedly cutting through burglar bars with hacksaw blades he claims were supplied by ZPCS officer Yusufu Yusufu.
Mathe, who fled to Malawi and was deported and rearrested at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport on 24 February 2026, testified that he had known Yusufu since childhood and had lent him US$2,000 in 2024.
“I am a businessman in Plumtree. I used to loan people money. In 2024, Yusufu came to me asking for US$3 000 to finish his building project. I only managed to lend him US$2,000,” Mathe testified.
According to Mathe, they first agreed on 40% interest before lowering it to 20% in light of their long-standing relationship.
He told the court that after being arrested in February 2025, he asked Yusufu for financial assistance with legal fees, but the officer instead urged him to escape from prison.
Mathe claimed that after they agreed on a US$300 top-up to the outstanding loan, Yusufu gave him two hacksaw blades and explained how to carry out the escape.
He alleged that Yusufu told him to volunteer to clean the cell, pour water on the floor to keep other inmates out and get two inmates to stand guard while he cut through the burglar bars.
Mathe said it took him three days to cut the bars, after which he informed Yusufu that he was ready.
Mathe alleged Yusufu advised him on how to do it, identified the officer who would be on duty and told him to flee to Namibia.
Mathe said he instead went to Malawi, where he lived as a street vendor before being arrested for illegal entry.
Mathe later confessed to the escape and was sentenced to six years in prison.
Yusufu, who denies assisting a prisoner to escape from lawful custody, is out on US$200 bail. His lawyer, Stanley Chinyanganyanga, challenged Mathe’s credibility, saying there was no evidence to support his claims about the loan or the escape plan.
“The State witness has failed to give any evidence showing that he was indeed assisted by Yusufu. He has no track record that he loaned my client money, no record that he assisted him to hatch the plan, no evidence that the two had any form of relationship in prison that could have culminated in Yusufu helping him to escape,” Chinyanganyanga submitted.
“The witness claims he had two inmates standing guard while he cut the burglar bars and that he paid my client US$300 as a top-up on an outstanding loan, but there is no evidence to substantiate any of these claims.”
The State, led by prosecutor Mufaro Ndirayire, said the hacksaw blades were recovered after the escape and would be produced as exhibits.
The trial before Bulawayo Regional Magistrate Taurai Manuwere was adjourned to 22 July 2026.
