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Raj Modi

Chronicle Reporter
BULAWAYO business tycoon Raj Modi yesterday donated groceries worth $12,000 to Bulawayo Prison and 600 bags of cement for the construction of the Landa John Nkomo Clinic in Tsholotsho.The donation coincided with the official opening of Modi’s new Wholesale Centre Liquor Hub business, which was officially opened by Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Vice President Mnangagwa handed over the consignment to senior prison officials while the cement donation was given to Landa John Nkomo board of trustees’ chairman, Jabulani Nkomo.

Modi donated 10 tonnes of mealie-meal, 140kg of kapenta (matemba), 700kg of soya chucks, one tonne of sugar, 300kg sugar beans, 50 cases baked beans, 50 bales of toilet paper, one tonne of rice and 360×2 litres of cooking oil.

VP Mnangagwa commended Modi for the support rendered to the correctional centre and cement for the new clinic.

He shared a lighter moment with the gathering and inmates reminding them of the time he spent at the then Grey Prison as a “notorious” political detainee under the Rhodesian regime.

The VP said he also spent eight years at Khami Maximum Prison on the outskirts of Bulawayo and two years at the then Salisbury Prison, now Harare.

He said he used the time to do his studies through correspondence before enrolling for further studies as a lawyer, a course he enrolled alongside President Mugabe and the late Edson Zvobgo.

The Vice President said it was important to support inmates as they were part of the society.

Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional services Matabeleland regional board chairman, Gilbert Moyo, said they needed $100,000 to capitalise Anju Farm to produce enough food for all prisons in the region.

The late Vice President Landa John Nkomo’s son, Jabulani, also paid tribute to Modi.

He said his father always had the idea of a clinic, which is meant to assist communities in the Manqe area in Tsholotsho.

Tsholotsho Rural District Council has donated the land for the clinic near Landa J High School. Nkomo said work had started on site with the digging of the foundation.

He said they need $77,000 to complete the project.