AN inmate serving a life sentence in Khami Prison after being convicted on two murder charges says his life has changed completely after he was baptised in prison recently.
Thirty-four-year old Rodney Tongai Jindu, was baptized last week through the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church, called on those still thinking of committing crimes to find inner peace.
Jindu said he was lured into crime after relocating to South Africa when he completed Form 4 resulting in him killing two people.
“Some people can laugh and say crime does not pay when you are caught, but I say you can be caught because God is watching. You can rob and have millions of cash, but when death comes you go naked as you were born naked and lose eternal life. Those still contemplating committing crimes should find inner peace first,” Jindu said.
“After committing these crimes I did not get anything but only got arrested in 2017. I came to prison after over a year on remand after that I went on trial for the two accounts. I tried to avoid being convicted after getting advice from other inmates by lying that I consumed the body parts so that I could sound insane, but the magistrate saw it and I could not get away with it. He saw that it was fiction and I was convicted and sentenced to death.”
His sentence was confirmed 2021.
“I did not care about my life then, but there are some strange things that happened in my life which included the circumstances involving the death of my father, a former ZBC employee who was discovered dead after four days, but this was not the turning point of my life,” he said.
Jindu said the challenge that hit him hard was the death of his younger brother in 2023 who left a child and a wife behind.
“I said to myself my father passed away in 2022 and my brother in 2023, then who is next in 2024 and 2025. I told myself let me try this thing called Christianity. I was touched when the news of the death of my youngster was announced, the bulk of the people who were comforting me in prison were what are called the prayer warriors.
“I started praying with them from then and started experiencing changes in terms of the way I see things. I started feeling peace in my heart because when you are on death row it's 23 hours in the cell and one hour of exercise daily. I started to read the Bible, the entire Old and New Testament.
This became my business and I started practising what is written in the Bible and started praying for my niece and her mother who eventually got jobs and I’m happy now because they now have a source of income and they are supporting my mother, I just got a new lease of life.”
He said when consultations on the abolition of the death penalty were made, he prayed to God for it to be passed.
“I went back to court for resentencing. The first time I came for sentencing I was telling myself that whatever happens to my life it was going to be fine, but when I came back for resentencing on the new Bill having been passed, it was a really trying time,” he said.
“They were talking about the cases that I committed, it really was evil considering my conduct and that was the reason why I broke down in court when I got a life sentence. When I got here in Khami from Harare I found a Theology course I did it and I’m teaching other students including Form One and Two English lessons for students in the school here.”
He said he planned to work for God in whatever capacity, adding that he was a different person, committed to preaching the message of forgiveness and repentance.
“People rely on me for these earthly things but these things will come to pass. The Bible says all things work together for the good for those who love God and to those who are called by God,” Jindu said.
Meanwhile, Jesus Behind Bars founder and ex-convict Dumisani Nkomo said the organisation had served 6 000 people.
“The challenge is that society does not understand why people commit such crimes. The reasons are that some are influenced by others to commit crimes, for some it is due to lack of parenting for different reasons while on the other hand there is a spiritual connotation,” he said.
“Let's not judge those people. Jesus Behind Bars is an organisation operating under a church which is yet to be registered. We are taking it from the scriptures which say you saw me in jail and you never visited me, you saw me hungry and you never fed me.
“We are appealing to well-wishers to partner in terms of sourcing resources. The government is doing a lot, more than 90% of the work and we are saying that with a small gap left we have to do something in terms of education and other needs.”
