Forgiveness is key to rehabilitation, Deputy Officer Commanding for Bulawayo Metropolitan Province, Assistant Commissioner, Priscilla Mtembo has implored the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service (ZPCS) during a three-day workshop on Healing Through Forgiveness (HTF) workshop that was held on the 20th of February 2026 at Khami Complex.
In her address, Assistant Commissioner Mtembo said Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service has a mandate that goes beyond custody and control of inmates. She said behind the walls, are men and women who carry deep stories of pain, loss, anger, regret and broken relationships.
“In Bulawayo Metropolitan Province we have seen firsthand of how unresolved emotional wounds manifest themselves. We see it in repeated offending violence among inmates in resistance to authority and sometimes to complete hopelessness.
“An inmate who is angry at the world, family, himself struggles to engage meaningfully in any rehabilitation program whether vocational training, education or counselling. This is why the Healing Through Forgiveness Programme is so important and timely,” she said
The Deputy Officer Commanding also reiterated that the definition of reintegration should loudly encompass forgiveness in order to prepare either the offender or victim for an outright success re-entry into the society and unconditional acceptance. Forgiveness is not weakness, it is strength. It is the ability to confront pain, acknowledge it and wisely choose a different path. When an inmate learns to forgive whether it is forgiving a parent, spouse or a victim something powerful happens.
“We have seen inmates who were once hostile begin to communicate. We have seen strained family relationships slowly restored. We have seen discipline improve, cooperation increase and a renewed sense of purpose emerge.
“These are real practical outcomes that support safer institutions and better reintegration outcomes. I sincerely appreciate River of Life Church for coming on board to walk this journey with us. Your willingness to partner with ZPCS demonstrate a deep understanding that rehabilitation is not a task for one institution,” she said.
Assistant Commissioner Mtembo went on and urged Pastor Raphet Nyirenda to organize another workshop that would cater for other groups in our communities which include couples, single parents and inmates. The participants who were part of the three-day workshop benefited in different areas and some of them included the importance of forgiveness, reduction of recidivism rate and creation of safer communities.
“The workshop that you have brought into this province has benefited most of the participants here present today and l hope this program is not only going to benefit these participants but we have single parents and inmates who I feel they need help from this program.
“I hope at the end of the day this program is going to create safer communities that we all need as a nation,” she said.
Pastor Nyirenda said the program emphasises on forgiveness and it does not negate accountability or justice. Instead it focuses on releasing the emotional burden that hinders healing. Facilitators are trained to support participants without coercion, recognizing that forgiveness is a journey that unfolds over time.
“There can never be a successful reintegration without forgiveness. Forgiveness allows victims and communities to heal and move forward. We are currently running in 7 prisons and recently we received a report saying 170 participants who went through the program at Harare Remand, 95 were released, 29 were convicted and 46 are still in. 95 who were released and no one came back to prison,” he said.
Pastor Nyirenda and his team later proceeded to Mlondolozi prison, where they donated clothes to mothers serving with their children.
The three-day workshop was attended by 46 participants of which 27 were officers and 19 were students on attachment that were drawn from all stations within the province.
Source: ZPCS media channel.
