๐ ๐๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐จ๐ ๐๐-๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฆ๐
HARARE – The father of Robert Zivengwa, the prisoner who was temporarily allowed out of custody to attend his University of Zimbabwe graduation, says his son fell into crime after mixing with the wrong friends and abandoning the religious life he had previously followed.
Isaac Chirongamabwe Zivengwa, 66, spoke after his son’s unusual graduation attracted national attention and renewed debate about education and rehabilitation inside Zimbabwe’s prisons.
Robert, 30, is serving a 24-month prison sentence for unlawful entry into a house. He was jailed about five months before his graduation.
Despite being in custody, he completed a Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Biological Sciences at the University of Zimbabwe, graduating with an Upper Second Class, or 2:1.
His areas of specialisation were microbiology and genetics.
ZPCS authorities granted Robert permission to leave prison under guard to attend the university’s graduation ceremony.
His father said the experience had helped him understand what he believed led his son into criminal behaviour.
โI have come to understand where my son, Robert, went wrong,โ Isaac said.
โHe was influenced by friends into criminal activities after departing from his faith.โ
That explanation is the family’s account of Robert’s personal circumstances. His conviction itself resulted from the unlawful-entry offence for which he is currently serving his sentence.
Isaac said Robert had previously been deeply religious and academically successful, attending Rusitu High School from Form One through Form Six before enrolling at the University of Zimbabwe.
He praised the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service for allowing his son to continue pursuing his education while incarcerated.
โI want to thank the Government for moving our prisons from punitive to correctional facilities and these are the results,โ he said.
Robert has also spoken publicly about the choices that preceded his imprisonment.
He said drinking alcohol at university and associating with people involved in crime contributed to his change in behaviour.
โI was influenced into drinking alcohol at the campus, departed from my faith, and dined with criminals,โ Robert said.
He said his time in custody had changed his outlook and that he wanted to use his education positively after completing his sentence.
Robert’s story first attracted attention after ZPCS announced that an inmate had obtained a 2:1 Biological Sciences degree while in custody.
He later appeared at the ZPCS exhibition stand at the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show wearing prison clothing and a graduation cap, where members of the public stopped to congratulate him.
His graduation comes as ZPCS expands educational and vocational programmes as part of its rehabilitation mandate.
Earlier in August, 73 inmates from Bulawayo Metropolitan Province graduated from Bulawayo Polytechnic after completing courses including plumbing, boiler making, carpentry, auto mechanics, house wiring, tailoring and agriculture.
For Robert, the university degree does not erase the offence for which he was convicted or his remaining sentence.
But his case provides a rare example of a prisoner completing a university qualification while incarcerated and being permitted to attend the graduation ceremony under guard.
His father says the family’s hope is that the qualification and rehabilitation programmes will give him a different path when he eventually returns to society.
