Churches unite against twin evils: Drug abuse, teen pregnancy threaten Zimbabwe’s youths

COUNCIL of Churches in Africa (CCA) leader Archbishop Rocky Moyo has said the twin evils of drug abuse and teenage pregnancies must be tackled together as they are destroying the future of young people.

The fight against drug abuse has intensified in the country with various stakeholders coming on board to support Government efforts to win the war.

A number of churches have also taken the stand against the scourge through various programmes to educate communities against the vice.

CCA recently held a youth conference in Bulawayo where youths from churches affiliated to the organisation were educated on the impact of drugs and early teen pregnancies.

“We brought together youths from our churches in Bulawayo to tackle the issues of drug and substance abuse as well as teenage pregnancies among girls. We are giving the youths an alarm and teaching them to say no to some of these things on their own.

They have to stand up as the future of our country because there are lots of pregnancies among our girls and they are forced to drop out of school, which affects their future,” he said.

“Some of these problems are as a result of absent parents and guardians who went to work outside the country. We are trying to teach them to defend themselves so that they achieve what they want for the future. We also have many divorce cases in society that affect young people and as a church, we have to be involved and help them to stand on their own despite all these challenges,” said Archbishop Moyo.

He said the high divorce rates affect children as they are being raised in dysfunctional families. In a speech read on her behalf, Minister of State for Bulawayo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Judith Ncube said stakeholders need to come together to tackle drug abuse and teen pregnancies as the effects can be deadly.

“The prevalence of drug and substance abuse among the youth in the country has now reached alarming and unprecedented levels. In an effort to try and redress the problem, President Mnangagwa directed the Ministers of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution in each province to lead and guide provincial drug and substance abuse taskforces. The effects of drugs and substance abuse can be fatal as families and relations are broken. Addiction can get to extremes and the worst could be the loss of loved ones through death,” she said.

Minister Ncube said the Provincial Drug Task Force seeks to restore human dignity among people who use drugs, eliminate stigma and empower them back to normal life.

She challenged the church to work with the provincial taskforce and put forward ideas that will combat the vice.

“Early child marriages are another issue that robes our youth of their childhood, careers and future. Let us protect our children and ensure they have a childhood free from exploitation and harm as they are our future leaders. Dropping out of school sets our youths up for failure,” she said.

Minister Ncube urged youths to stay in school and pursue their educational dreams with focus. Speaking at the same occasion, Zanu-PF national political commissar Cde Munyaradzi Machacha said youths must know their purpose in life.

He challenged young people to dream big as they have been given many opportunities to thrive.

“We want to challenge you as young people to think big and about becoming entrepreneurs in your own right. You are citizens of a rich country; our gold ore is worth trillions of dollars. We have every precious mineral so there is no reason at all for any one of us to be poor. We want everyone to gain something out of this abundant resource that God has given us as a nation. This can only happen if we are willing to work hard to produce goods and services,” said Cde Machacha. — @themkhust