AS the nation grapples with a nagging cholera crisis, multi-award-winning musician Jah Prayzah, in partnership with Skylake Borehole Drilling company, has made a timely intervention by drilling a borehole to address the water needs of inmates at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison in Harare.
Born Mukudzei Mukombe, Jah Prayzah is the Zimbabwe Prison and Correctional Services (ZPCS) ambassador.
Skylake teamed up with the lanky contemporary musician to extend its generosity as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts.
Cholera has been surging across the world since 2021, with Africa experiencing the largest numbers of outbreaks. The bacterium, vibrio cholerae, thrives in contaminated water, which has resulted in cholera being endemic in Zimbabwe where clean portable water has been scarce.
“In a heartfelt commitment to bettering the lives of those within Chikurubi Maximum Prison, I have embarked on a transformative journey, leading to the installation of a borehole to address the water needs of the inmates,” Jah Prayzah said after the donation.
“I presented this borehole to the Deputy Commissioner-General who was representing ZPCS Commissioner-General [Moses Chihobvu]. In the past year, we have been working closely with Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services and have also embarked on projects that highlight the consequences of crime and fostering rehabilitation.”
He continued: “One such project to note is Mhosva, which is hosted by Dual Sim Zim. It is a step towards not just quenching physical thirst, but nurturing hope and humanity within the prison walls.
“I thank Tatenda ‘Samaz’ Samukange and his Skylake Borehole Drilling Zimbabwe team because their support in this project has made this dream possible. This borehole stands as a beacon of our collective effort to make a lasting difference.
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“I also extend my deepest gratitude to everyone involved in making this project a success, inspired to continue our journey of giving back and uplifting those around us.”
Skylake Borehole Drilling chief executive Tatenda Samukange told NewsDay Weekender Society that partnering Jah Prayzah to drill the borehole was a way of giving back to the community in fulfilment of their philanthropic work.
“The corporate social responsibility initiatives are critical to Skylake. In a bid to obviously better the lives of everyday Zimbabweans, but unconventionally we are speaking to even those who are incarcerated, who are the inmates at Chikurubi Maximum Prison,” he said.
“As Skylake, we believe that we have a role to play with regards to ensuring that clean, safe and sanitary water is accessible to all, hence our gesture to partner Jah Prayzah on this project to drill a borehole and give back to the community.
“This was done in a manner that also spoke volumes to our need in raising awareness of rehabilitation of inmates as well as obviously in the footsteps and shadow of the Jah Prayzah ambassadorship. We are looking to be doing more work with the ZPCS.”
Samukange further elaborated: “We managed to raise awareness in many aspects, one of them speaking to clean sanitation as well as clean water being accessed in these prison services. Much is spoken about the hygiene aspect, some even coming to the detriment of losing lives in prison because of unclean water, as well as poor hygiene.
“So, this collaborative effort did raise awareness in the sense that we are growing a culture of making sure the everyday Zimbabwean is also in line with that. This speaks on the backdrop of some of the work we did as the initial team, the first team actually to answer to the COVID-19 response back during the COVID times in 2019.
“We were the first respondents with regards to drilling a borehole at a local hospital as well as also taking part in various community projects that have also led to the betterment of society.”
He said there are a lot of initiatives, not only borehole drilling, they will be involved this year to continue fulfilling their CSR duties.
“We are going to be doing a lot of these corporate social responsibility initiatives through 2024 with respect to ensuring that many organisations also get to benefit from our brand Skylake,” he noted.
“Our targets for the year as Skylake and the rolling out of borehole drilling across the country is always in line with some government projects as well as with the private sector.
“We ensure that every year we are north of 1 000 and as it stands at the present moment, we have stood on drilling at least 10 000 boreholes both in the public and private sector. We continue to grow in that aspect.”
Samukange said as Skylake they were not only limited to borehole drilling, but are also involved in pile drilling, for strong home foundations, borehole rehabilitation, drilling and blasting as well as numerous aspects that are in respect to mining.
“In Zimbabwe we continue to strive to be the leading borehole drillers as well as in mining and also anything to do with our machines and the product and service we provide,” he added.
