To some, July 1, is a day when the nation honours the late Vice-President Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo, who passed away on that date in 1999.
However, for Mhlupheki Ngwenya (52), it is a day that
reminds him of a personal tragedy that has seen him spend almost half his life
in jail.
That was the day a domestic violence incident at his rented
home in Bulawayo’s Sauerstown suburb led to the heartbreaking death of his
five-year-old son, resulting in his conviction and subsequently having the
death sentence handed by the Bulawayo High Court in 2008.
Having spent the last 25 years behind bars, Ngwenya is the
longest-serving inmate at Khami Maximum Prison, where he was incarcerated for
the murder of his son.
The death sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment
in 2017. In an interview with Sunday News at Khami Maximum Prison, Ngwenya
narrated how at 26 years old, a misunderstanding with his wife escalated into
an ordeal that would shatter his life dreams.
“I committed the offence of murder on July 1, 1999, the day
on which the late Vice-President Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo died. What happened is
that, I had a misunderstanding with my wife. My wife, in the process, used ou
son as a shield which resulted in him severely hitting the wall where he got
injured and passed on.
“My wife reported tht I had beaten up my son and killed
him. That is when I was taken to Sauerstown Police Station. I was then taken to
court where I was remanded to the then Khami Maximum Prison, which is now Khami
Remand Prison,” he said.
Due to various challenges faced by the judicial and other
relevant stakeholders at the time, Ngwenya was placed on remand for nine years
as his trial failed to kick off.
“My case dragged up to 9 April 2008, when I was convicted
and given a death sentence. During the same year, I was then taken to Harare
Central Prison where inmates on death row are kept. I appealed at the Supreme
Court against the death sentence and my response came on July 3, 2017, which
commuted it to life sentence.
“I was then taken to Chikurubi Maximum Prison up to 2019. I
was transferred to Khami Maximum Prison, which is nearer to my relatives. This
means I have been in prison for the past 25 years and five months,” said
Ngwenya.
Having spent almost half of his life traversing prisons in
the country, Ngwenya is optimistic that he will eventually come out of prison
via the amnesty route.
He said if that occurred, he would come out empowered due
to the rehabilitation efforts being made by the Zimbabwe Prisons and
Correctional Services (ZPSC), including offering him a chance to education.
“I have since engaged myself in studies and I was supposed
to sit for my Ordinary Level examinations but I could not as I did not have a
National ID. Fortunately, the ZPCS Officer in Charge of Khami Maximum Prison
managed to take me to Tredgold, where I took my ID. As such, I am hoping to sit
for my examinations next year.
“I am happy that I will go out with something I would have
achieved in my life. Unfortunately, I managed to benefit from these programmes
a bit late as I stayed a long time in remand and on death row, where I could
not benefit,” said Ngwenya.
He said the incident that led him to prison saddens him and
at times when he thinks about it, he gets depressed. Sunday News
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