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Mukudzei Chingwere
Herald Reporter
Structures for the establishment of the national committee on the elimination of drug and substance abuse have been approved, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa has said.
Speaking after yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, Minister Mutsvangwa said Cabinet was deeply concerned that the drug and substance abuse scourge had reached alarming levels, wreaking havoc in families and threatening the core of societal norms and values. She added that the structures of the committee would start at the lowest tier and escalate issues from the bottom to the top.
“Most of the dangerous drugs and substances being abused are imported, with the traffickers acting in cahoots with local drug lords and an array of criminal elements in our society,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.
“Following Cabinet’s decision at its last meeting to establish an institutional framework to decisively deal with the menace, Cabinet has decided to set up a national committee on the elimination of drug and substance abuse.
“The committee will be empowered to come up with systematic and sustainable responses that will assist in ensuring that society is free of drug and substance abuse.”
Minister Mutsvangwa said Cabinet agreed that the committee will use the time-tested framework, which is already operational and is divided into three segments, namely: search and rescue, rehabilitate, and promote resilience and sustainability.
At the community level, the committee will be chaired by traditional leaders and will include school heads, religious and faith based organisation leaders, social welfare workers, nurses in charge of rural clinics, village health workers and other relevant persons at that level.
At the district level, the committee will be chaired by District Development Coordinators and supported by district heads of chiefs, district education officers, district heads of religious and faith-based organisations, district social welfare officers, ZRP officers commanding districts, district medical officers, chief executive officers of urban and rural district councils, pharmacists’ representatives, district youth development officers and any other relevant persons at that level.
Minister Mutsvangwa said at the provincial level, Ministers of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution will coordinate the activities of the committee, with support from secretaries for provincial affairs and devolution, provincial education directors, the provincial joint operations command, provincial chiefs councils, provincial medical directors, provincial leadership of the National Association of Secondary School Heads (NASH), and National Association of Primary School Heads (NAPH), chief executive officers of urban and rural district councils, provincial youth development officers and any other persons relevant at that level.
At the national level, Minister Mutsvangwa said the National Committee would be chaired by the Minister of Defence and War Veterans Affairs, deputised by the Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage.
The National Committee will coordinate the entire clean-up campaign on drug and substance abuse, and will include all the ministers currently serving on the outgoing Inter-Ministerial Task Force, the Attorney-General, Ministers of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, and the Tripartite of the Chief Secretary, the Chairman of the Public Service Commission, Deputy Chief Secretaries, the Secretary to the Public Service Commission, and the Secretary for Finance and Economic Development.
The leadership of the Joint Operations Command, the president of the Chiefs Council and his deputy, leadership of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, the Zimbabwe Indigenous Christian Churches Council, the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference and the Supreme Islamic Council of Zimbabwe, will also part of the National Committee.
The Academia or Association of University Vice Chancellors, and other relevant representatives of appropriate organisations, will complete the membership of the National Committee.Said Minister Mutsvangwa: “Furthermore, the current Task Force is being transformed into a National Technical Committee chaired by the Secretary for Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare deputised by the Secretary for Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage.
“The Technical Committee will be coordinated by the Deputy Chief Secretary for Social Services in the Office of the President and Cabinet, in a manner akin to the current arrangements for the management of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The National Committee Chairman will present the consolidated report to an enlarged Cabinet, which incorporates representatives selected by His Excellency the President from the National Committee.”
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