Anti-drugs campaign at Joshua Nkomo commemoration event

The Joshua Nkomo Legacy Restoration Project Trust will host a drugs and substance awareness event at White City Stadium tomorrow as part of the ongoing commemorations to mark the 25th anniversary of the death of Father Zimbabwe.

The event provides an opportunity especially for young people to reflect on the principles,values and sacrifices of the country’s heroes and heroines that brought people together to fight for the country’s liberation.

Joshua Nkomo Legacy Restoration Project Trust chairperson, Mr Mehluli Moyo said tomorrow’s proceedings will start with a procession from the popular D-Square near Mpopoma High School to White City Stadium. “Every year as the Joshua Nkomo Legacy Restoration Project Trust, we

organise and host the Joshua Nkomo annual celebrations. For this year, after engagements and consultations with various stakeholders including Government, we are hosting this event on July 11 at White City Stadium,” said Mr Moyo.

He said the event is very important as it gives citizens an opportunity to reflect on the sacrifices of the heroes and heroines that brought the freedom that people are enjoying today.

Mr Moyo said the event will run under the theme, “Learning from the past to correct the present and determine the future.”

He said the theme is inspired by the determination to join the fight against drugs and substance abuse that is affecting mostly the young people.

“In his words, Father Zimbabwe himself said and I quote, ‘the young people will not die, young people will serve it.’ “We therefore need to learn from the wisdom of our icon and his teachings as they still apply today. We want to save our young people from being destroyed by these social ills so that they will be there to tell their story when they become leaders in future,” said Mr Moyo.

Mr Moyo said various stakeholders will be part of tomorrow’s event.

“Going forward as the Joshua Nkomo Legacy Restoration Project Trust, we will be rolling out a number of programmes that will seek to successfully implement, promote and sustain his legacy,” he said.

Speaking at the official launch of the Zimbabwe Multi-Sectoral Drug and Substance Abuse Plan for 2024-2030 in Harare last month, President Mnangagwa said no nation will develop in totality if a portion of its citizens is addicted to drugs.

He said the scourge of drug and substance abuse has to be dealt with decisively as the nation marches towards Vision 2030.

The thrust of the Plan is to improve the health and security of Zimbabweans as enshrined in its Vision of “A Healthy and Secure Nation Free from Illicit Drugs and Substances.”

President Mnangagwa said drug and substance abuse has become a significant public health, socio-economic and national security challenge as well as a potential threat to the country’s development trajectory.

An Inter-Ministerial Committee on Drug Abuse, chaired by Defence Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, was established and has expanded the master plan into the Zimbabwe Multi-sectoral Drug and Substance Abuse Plan, which is working on the implementation of seven pillars that include supply reduction and demand.