Zimbabwean prisoners walked out of Botswana prison

EIGHTEEN prisoners, 15 of them Zimbabweans escaped a jail in Botswana in January by literally walking through a hole on one of the fences while armed prison guards were watching, it has been established.

Now the Botswana authorities heard how some of the guards were allegedly bribed to allow the prisoners to escape. According to reports in Botswana papers, magistrate Mr Ishmael Molobe last week established that armed prison guards watched as the 18 prisoners, including hardened criminals walked through a hole in the fence of the Francistown Centre for Illegal Immigrants (FCII).

FCII is being used as a prison facility while the Francistown State Prison is undergoing renovations. Mr Molebe said the court had established that the prisoners, some of them accused of murder and armed robbery had paid "handsome" bribes for their liberty.

In mitigation the prisoners also confessed to bribing prison guards and revealed prison guards manning the gates did nothing to stop them (prisoners) from escaping. The Directorate of Public Prosecutions and police reportedly did not challenge the escapees' testimony.

Mr Molebe considered the role played by the prison guards when he sentenced five of the recaptured inmates on Thursday last week. The five were sentenced to an additional six months in prison, instead of the allowable two years. Mlindeni Moyo, Sicelo Sibanda, Rowland Moyo, Gaomodimo Molosiwa and Givemore Chaloba's six month sentences will run consecutively with respective sentences they were serving prior to the escape.

Passing sentence Mr Molobe revealed that after the escape the court visited FCII to assess how the inmates had managed to escape from the prison.

He was quoted saying, "What was most shocking was how a horde of inmates could leave a facility with a high barbed fence in broad daylight in the presence of prison officers who were armed with guns without being noticed. I am of the view that prison officers had a hand in the inmates' escape and I accordingly sentence each of the accused to only six months in jail. I hope that the relevant authorities are addressing the issue. I am forced to bow down and be lenient because of the circumstances the accused raised during their mitigation".

The five prisoners were recaptured at different times and places around Botswana and Zimbabwe. Eight of the 18 escapees are still on the run. One has since died while two are in custody in Zimbabwe awaiting extradition, according to reports.

Zimbabwe's national police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Paul Nyathi could not give details regarding the extradition of the two escapees.

"Right now I'm not in the office so I cannot give you the details. I would need to check first. Why don't you call me on Monday, I'm sure then I will be able to give you the update you want," he said yesterday.