MARTIN MAWAYA
MIDLANDS– Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution in the Midlands Province, Owen Ncube, on Thursday presided over the groundbreaking ceremony for Whawha Secondary School, the first Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service (ZPCS) such institution in the province.

The school, which will serve both juvenile inmates and the surrounding community, is being built under the theme “Building the Future, Transforming Lives.”
Ncube said the project aligns with government’s rehabilitation and reintegration agenda introduced recently.
“By establishing Whawha Secondary School, ZPCS has demonstrated enormous desire to propel the Second Republic’s rehabilitation thrust anchored on provision of second chances, human dignity, and education to unlock potential,” he said.
Ncube applauded ZPCS leadership in the province for turning correctional institutions “from centres of confinement into centres of transformation and reintegration.”
Whawha already runs Zimbabwe’s only juvenile prison, where young offenders attend classes with community peers in a model aimed at reducing stigma.
The minister said the initiative was in line with the government’s Education 5.0 policy, which positions learning as a driver of industrialisation and innovation.
He urged the private sector, churches and local authorities to partner with ZPCS to ensure the project is completed on time.