BY SHARON SIBINDI
ZIMBABWE Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) Bulawayo ambassador Clarence “Kirah” Garura says he will today donate proceeds from his Keeping the City Warm campaign to Khami Prison as part of his birthday celebrations.
Of late, the musician, who is also the founder of Inside Out, a programme aimed at rehabilitating and reintegrating prisoners into society, has also been donating to Entembeni Old People’s home as part of his birthday celebrations.
“It has been a norm that every year on my birthday I give to charity (Entembeni Old People’s Home). This year I will do it differently, I decided to help the prison inmates by donating soap and cleaning detergents,” he said.
“This has been necessitated due to coronavirus as cleanliness at its highest level is needed to help curb the spread of the virus considering the prison population. I have a vision of raising 1000 bars of soap and at least 100 litres of cleaning detergents.”
Kirah said apart from the donation, he will host an online birthday concert.
“On Thursday (today), I will host an online thanks giving concert for 30 minutes and that will be livestreamed on my Facebook page and the Inside Out Development Trust Facebook and YouTube respectively,” he said.
“I am very much passionate about assisting prison inmates to be masters of their own destinies. I am currently recording an Imbube group from Bulawayo Prison and also preparing to record more groups and artistes from Khami prison complex that include the versatile Maurice Peterson, Hard life Nheya, ASA, Abahambi, KHASA, Holy Stars and Lousinonh Siziba, a mental patient stationed at Mlondolozi.”
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He urged fellow artists to develop a culture of assisting communities in which they live.
“Some think that when someone is incarcerated he or she is condemned and should be forgotten. I have had scenarios where I ask some artistes to partner for prison programs and their responses are that they have nothing to do with prison,” he said.
“Prison inmates are people like us and we are no longer in that punitive era, but in the correctional era so we need to help inmates write their corrections.”
Kirah said showing prisoners love will help minimise chances of re-offending.
“I appeal to the corporate world, churches, organisations and individuals to partner for this noble cause as taking care of prison inmates make them feel accepted and it helps them successfully reintegrate back to society after they finish serving their jail terms,” he said.
Follow Sharon on Twitter @SibindiSharon
