By Tapfuma Machakaire
In a striking twist inside one of Zimbabwe’s correctional facilities, inmates at Khami Prison near Bulawayo are delivering powerful blows in the global battle to end HIV and AIDS by 2030.What started quietly in 2020 as a small mentorship program has exploded into a full-scale health movement. Today, nearly 800 inmates out of over 5000 at Khami are on life-saving antiretroviral treatment, and more are stepping forward to get tested every month.Addressing journalist during a media tour of the facility recently Ncobeni Mutale, National AIDS Council District Coordinator for Luveve, narrated the humble beginnings from a Brotha2Brotha model with just five mentors targeting young men aged 10 to 24.”The turning point came in 2023 after a NAC Board visit. The program was rebranded as the Key Populations Programme, shattering age and gender limits. Mentor numbers at Khami Maximum doubled to ten, now called Peer Educators. Their mission expanded to covering TB, non-communicable diseases, gender-based violence and drug and subtance abuse,” said Mutale.Armed with gadgets from NAC, the Peer Educators are running primary health checks for NCDs right inside the complex, where they screen inmates for temperature, high bloodpressure and bloodsugarl evels. “Education can change the Nation” said Moses Moyo who knows the program from both sides, first as a peer beneficiary in 2022, then graduated to a Peer Educator in 2024. “Each of us mentors 50 inmates for a full year,” Moyo explained. “The response is overwhelming. Inmates who once avoided clinics are now volunteering for HIV tests. “Twice a month, they gather for lessons straight from HIV manuals and the conversations go further. “We talk TB prevention, drug abuse and gender-based violence. We are committed to help hit that 2030 goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat .”Moyo doubles as headmaster of the prison’s indoor school. NAC also provided soccer balls for use in edutainment activities. After every match, players huddle not just to dissect goals, but to tackle health issues head-on. “We discuss HIV, we discuss life,” Moyo says. For Blessing Chiriri, mentorship was a wake-up call. “When I came to prison in 2020, I was ignorant about health,” he admits. “Now I know about STIs. When I leave here, I will not go back to abusing alcohol. I will also be careful with my sex life.” Khami Prisons and Correctional Service runs four prisons, Khami Maximum, Khami Medium, Khami Remand, and Mlondolozi. Officer in Charge Khami Maximum, Chief Superintendent Panonetsa Chemugarira told Journalists that health care for inmates remains a priority for the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service.” Every inmate gets a health exam on admission, though HIV testing is not compulsory. Rehabilitation officers follow up even after release to ensure adherence to treatment for those on ART.
“What is happening at Khami on the HIV programme surprised Journalists on the tour. “I never thought such kind of a programme would be possible for offenders. I am shocked to learn that there are people so intelligent in prisons who can run such a programme in such an organized manner” said Silas Nkala one of the Journalists who toured the facility.”
Nkala said it was important for journalists to be allowed to visit such programmes so that they can “tell the world the success stories behind these high scary walls.”
