Online Reporter
Stephen Mpofu, Perspective
An anti-litter, anti-bed bug blitzkrieg currently underway in our country’s capital city, Harare, should also be undertaken in other urban centres across the country. This initiative is not only beneficial for the health of citizens but will also serve as an enticing international business advert for our motherland.
Harare, as Zimbabwe’s seat of government, must lead the nation in anti-corruption, anti-bed bugs, and anti-littering efforts to safeguard the health of residents.
Bulawayo, the second largest city in our country, is a leader in international business extravaganzas. It hosts international trade fairs that annually draw business executives and traders to the city of Kings and Queens, making it a focal point for business negotiations crucial to our country’s economic development and the emancipation of our people from poverty — a value that often engenders anti-government sentiments among hunger-stricken citizens in any global village.
In the 1960s, when this communicologist worked as a drawer and loom operator making towels at Sentex Weaving Mills in Belmont, Bulawayo, before migrating into journalism in 1963 after training at the African Literature Centre in Kitwe, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), Bulawayo was known as the cleanest city in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).
Residents were organised to clean up streets and surroundings in their suburbs, a practice that resonated well with the city of Kings and Queens.
However, today, littering and other dirty activities by residents tarnish the urban centre’s status as the city of Kings and Queens, who are reputed for their disdain for filth or litter. Bed bugs should never be imported from Mbare to the city of trade extravaganzas, as business leaders might shun the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF), fearing to return to their native countries carrying bugs instead of trade agreements.
Bulawayo needs to address litterbugs and robbers who emulate the infamous reputation of people from this country who went to Mzansi during the apartheid era and were known for popularising themselves as tsotsis by robbing people on the streets of Bulawayo, especially at night, upon their permanent return or short visits back home.
The anti-littering campaign must also be extended to urban centres other than Harare and Bulawayo, with popular holiday resort towns like Victoria Falls being prime focuses.
International visitors should not return to their native homes with bad images of our country and leaders as being tolerant of filth, which begets poor health.
Equally important, children at home and school should be educated about the health risks posed by filthy living conditions around them.
They will be future leaders who must ensure healthy living conditions in homes and urban centres across the country.
The blitz in Harare against motorists throwing litter out of their vehicles, thereby making the city filthy, must be extended to all urban centres and accompanied by an educational campaign about the health risks posed by dirtying our living environments.
Freedom and independence are invaluable and must therefore be matched with clean, healthy surrounding living conditions. Zimbabwe’s parliament might wish to consider passing a law for custodial punishment for litterbugs who pose risks to both their health and that of fellow citizens.
