The Sunday Mail
Veronica Gwaze
AS she greeted traditional leaders and members of the public during a Hurungwe Prison Farm tour, one could not help but notice the disarming humility of Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service (ZPCS) Deputy Commissioner-General (DCG) Dr Granisia Musango.
Being second-in-command at ZPCS and occupying a seat among the top brass of the country’s uniformed forces, it would ‘naturally’ be easy for her to be bossy.
But this is not the case.
Dr Musango has successfully managed to separate her professional and private life.
At work, her steely resolve and demeanour is quite apparent, but she automatically mellows when she interacts with civilians.
The Hurungwe community was recently left surprised when she momentarily half-kneeled in genuflection, hands locked together, greeting chiefs and headmen during the tour.
This was quite unexpected from someone who was being saluted by a battalion of officers during parade moments earlier.
There were more surprises in store.
The soft-spoken, composed, intelligent and effusive DCG effortlessly dropped rib-cracking jokes that left many in fits of uproarious laughter.
“These are the kind of daughters-in-law that we expect in our society, akabva kuvanhu mwana uyu (she was well-nurtured),” remarked one of the elderly villagers in attendance.
“I have come far in the force, but I always make sure I understand what is required of me at any given time and act accordingly,” she told The Sunday Mail Society.
As a professional and mother, she is well aware of her onerous responsibilities and what is expected of her.
“Life as a DCG, mother, daughter-in-law and mentor is a bagful. However, I was brought up in a family that valued character, morals and discipline. I understand that the way I carry myself has a huge bearing on how my workmates and public perceive me.”
The 48-year-old, who hails from Marondera, and Manetswa Manhivi became the second female DCGs in post-Independent Zimbabwe. The first woman to occupy the esteemed office was retired DCG Fadzai Mupure. Dr Musango and Manhivi were promoted in February this year.
Their male counterpart, DCG Social Danga, occupies the third slot.
“I never thought I would get there, let alone skip such a high rank as commissioner. I have worked in different offices at various capacities and in most cases, people I would work with as my supervisors were men, but they were very supportive,” said Dr Musango.
As the thirdborn in a family of eight, she attended Manyaira and Marondera Primary Schools before enrolling at Marondera Secondary School.
Her father, a petrol attendant, could, however, only afford to take his children up to Ordinary Level.
As a result, she moved to Harare where she briefly lived with her sister in Warren Park before becoming a domestic worker in 1991.
It was during that time that she saw a ZPCS — then Zimbabwe Prison Services (ZPS) — recruitment advert in The Sunday Mail, and applied.
She, however, did not know what the job entailed.
“I worked for a kind lady who understood my plight, so she helped me apply and when the response came, she let me leave,” she recalls.
“Her name is Philomina Mandaza, she worked for a food and beverage company back then. I still feel indebted to her. It has been years trying to locate her, but with no luck.” She spoke on the challenges of balancing family and work.
“As years went by, I got married to Noel Musango and had two kids. Ordinarily, this meant a busy schedule at home and work. However, my supportive husband helped me sail through.
“Each time I thought I was done, he would motivate and urge me on, encouraging me to take new studies and tackle new challenges.”
As she worked on improving herself, her fortunes at work also changed.
By 2007, she became ZPCS public relations officer.
Naturally, this meant more work and hours away from home.
“I never felt the pressure,” she said.
But it was in 2009 when she was promoted to the rank of superintendent and seconded to the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Sudan that she began to feel some strain.
She was deployed there as correctional advisor for a year.
“It was a long year. I missed my husband and family, but he was there for me as he helped me adjust. I needed the emotional support,” she said.
After a year, when she was supposed to return home, her stay in Sudan was further extended by one-and-half years.
This time, she assumed the role of peacekeeping centre trainer.
“Serving more than the required contract was not easy. You know being a mother, a wife, you had to make all areas work even in your absence. At that time, our son was doing Grade One and our daughter was in Form One. They needed me most, but he (husband) had to do everything alone. He became the father and mother to the kids.”
Her firstborn is currently studying medicine in Russia and the lastborn is doing Advanced Level.
Meanwhile, while in Sudan, she was also seconded to work under the aegis of SADC training officers deployed for peace support operations.
She did so as a facilitator for three deployments that included military, correctional, police and the civilian component from 15 countries.
“Working in such an office and among men has never been easy for many women, but for me, they have always treated me with the respect and dignity that comes with the position and competence, not gender,” she added.
“However, where there are promotions, there are challenges but what helped me most, I believe, was God and humility.”
Tragedy
In fairy tales, rough beginnings usually have a happy ending.
Unfortunately, that was not the case for Dr Musango.
Her husband died in 2014 due to illness, a year or so after she returned home from her peace-keeping mission.
It still pains her a lot.
“This is the time that I felt a lot of pressure, I needed to be there for him. I had to partially suspend my PhD studies to concentrate on him, but he was against the idea and urged me to carry on,” she said.
“He never wanted me to miss my lectures. But as a wife, I needed to make sacrifices and I am happy that I was there up to his last day.
“He covered a lot for me with regards to looking after the family during my long absence. It would have been good to spend a few more years with him.”
Inspired by her experiences, Dr Musango authored a book titled ‘Prison Work, My Career, My Passion”.
Having attempted to abandon prison work countless times, she now believes the green garb is her calling.
“Reflecting on my background, I realise that God was pushing me along this path because at some point I would apply for jobs, do interviews but when it came to leaving ZPCS something would just stop me,” she said with a chuckle.
FACT BOX
Dr Musango joined ZPS as a junior security officer in 1992
1994, she got married to Noel Musango
She became the first female journalist in ZPS in 1998.
By 1999, she was the assistant public relations officer at the ZPS national headquarters.
In the years to come, she attained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and Communication with Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU), making her one of the few female ZPS officers with such a qualification.
In 2003, she was posted to the photographic section as the first female photojournalist.
She was then promoted to ZPS National public relations officer in 2007, before graduating with a Master of Business Administration (Public Management) degree.
In 2009, she rose to superintendent before being seconded to the United Nations Mission in Sudan as correctional advisor.
2014, her husband dies
Two years later, she is elevated to the rank of chief superintendent and is deployed to national headquarters as staff officer training responsible for external forces.
In 2017 rose to become Assistant Commissioner and become responsible for correctional services at the national headquarters.
In 2019, she was promoted to Senior Assistant Commissioner.
Last year she became the executive director of Zimbabwe Female Open Prison Foundation Trust.
This year, she was promoted to Deputy Commissioner-General responsible for correctional services.
She is currently involved in philanthropic work through her Shining Light Foundation. The foundation assists the underprivileged in rural secondary schools.
She now holds a PhD in correctional science majoring in social science and is also a local university lecturer for postgraduate programmes, and a youth career advisor.
