‘We can develop the nation too’

WHEN we talk about one being convicted and incarcerated to stay in prison for a certain period of time, many people believe that is the end of their life.

That misleading perception is slowly being corrected by ex-convicts who have successfully managed to establish themselves as forces to be reckoned with in their communities.

Mesuli Sayi (46), now a businessperson, is more than happy to showcase the achievements he made after completing his 10-year jail term at Khami Maximum Prison for armed robbery.
Last week, B-Metro caught up with the aspiring businessperson, who had a lot to share about his journey to where he is now.

“I was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2009 after I was conned more than US$7 000 by a local businessman who sold me fake gold.

“When I realised that I had been duped by this guy, I decided to hire a team of guys with the intention of recovering my money, and when we got to his place, we managed to recover some of my money from him,” he said.

Sayi said he never reported the matter to the police after recovering his money, which provided the businessman with an opportunity to counter the situation as he later went to the police to report that he had been robbed.

“When I recovered some of my money, I never thought it was necessary for me to file an official report to the police, instead, I just left with the guys I had hired.
“I never knew that not reporting this matter was the greatest mistake, as the businessman took advantage of the situation and reported the matter to the police, leading to my arrest,” he said.

According to the ex-convict, when the case was brought to court, it was established that he had taken the law into his own hands instead of reporting the incident to the police.

The court found him guilty, and he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, a third of his sentence was suspended, leaving him with six years.
“Soon after being convicted I was moved to Khami Remand Prison to start serving my sentence and life was not easy as I was already married and my wife was seven months pregnant.

“When I got to Khami Remand Prison I was lucky to meet one officer whom I had gone to school with and from our discussions he urged me to further myself academically as six years was not a joke.

“My wife, who was pregnant during that time, understood the advice that I had been given and she actually started supporting me financially as I advanced myself academically,” he said.
The ex-convict said when he got to prison in 2009, he was a qualified mechanic but due to idleness while in prison, he decided to sit for his Advanced Level Examinations in 2010 and from those examinations he managed to get six points from two subjects.

The six points that he got from Economics and Business Studies served as an inspiration for the ex-convict, who later decided to focus on business studies in order to start his own business after completing his jail term.

“The six points that I got from the examination that I sat for in 2010 was more of the turning point of my life as I started seeing better job opportunities despite the fact that I was in prison.
“When I prepared for this examination there were no qualified teachers to assist me, so I only used the modules that were bought by my wife and with the little knowledge that I had, I managed to get the points that I needed.

“With those points in 2011, I enrolled for a Human Resources Course with an institute called Institute of People Management of Zimbabwe (IPMZ) and I managed to complete the eight modules in one year.
“This showed me that prison was turning me into a totally different person in terms of profession, as people out there knew me as a qualified mechanic,” he said.

The ex-convict said soon after completing his course he decided to do a two-year counselling course.
“Soon after completing this counselling course, I enrolled with the Zimbabwe Institute of Management for a Business Administration course in 2014, and I qualified that very same year.

“When I graduated  on the same year, I emerged as the best student overall and this really impressed some of the officials that were present. From this graduation I was offered a two-year contract by Oxfam.

“At first I could not believe that my life was slowly changing for the better. This was shown by the offer that I had been given by Oxfam,” he said.

Sayi said while with Oxfam for two years, he got a lot of exposure and Moonlight Services offered him another contract as they wanted him to be part of the management in the marketing department.
“Soon after the expiry of my contract with Oxfam, I was offered another opportunity by Moonlight Funeral Services as one of the managers in the marketing department.

“While with Moonlight, I was so frustrated by the transfers I did within a short space of time as they wanted me to have experience with the marketing environments of the area they wanted me to lead.
“That experience really frustrated me such that I felt it was high time I started my own company,” he said.

The ex-convict said while doing his market survey he discovered that Plumtree town had no upholstery companies to service the town. This observation later turned out to be a challenge for him to establish a company in the small town.

“Soon after leaving Moonlight Funeral Services, I decided to start my own company in Plumtree and from the day I started this company I am happy to announce that I have no regrets.
“The company is doing very well, and as a company we provide a number of services and these range from car seats making, sofas, beds and tents.

Our market at the moment is mainly centred in Plumtree and we are slowly penetrating other cities like Bulawayo,” he said.
Sayi said he chose venturing into the upholstery as the mechanics course had that module so he had an idea of what was involved when it comes to running such a venture.

The ex-convict said from the time he started running his business he discovered that prison was a make or break environment as it gave all inmates an opportunity to reform and contribute towards the development of the nation in all aspects.

“I would like to urge my fellow brothers and sisters still serving in different prisons to know that prison is a school of correction to make right where one would have gone wrong.
“Today I have a company that is running and as we speak I have got six employees who are benefiting from the idea that I developed while in prison serving my sentence.”