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Walter Nyamukondiwa
Mashonaland West Bureau Chief
The puffs, sniffs and injections the two young men enjoyed separately induced the same behavioural patterns and repulsion from society almost in equal measure.
Later, their paths crossed, in prison.
For one, the misdirected pursuit of fame as an artist plunged him into the underworld of drugs and substance abuse in Mbare, Harare.
The other enjoyed the thrill, courage and feel-good factor which drugs induced.
They took all, from crystal meth, commonly known in street lingo as mutoriro or guka, and prescription drugs such as mangemba (diazepam, a sedative) and cough syrups including Histalix and Broncleer among others.
Their behaviours started changing, driving them away from family, society and landing them into a cycle of crime and abuse.
The first hit ignited a constant and unquenchable desire for more hits and as time progressed the hits could not hit anymore and stronger varieties of drugs and substances were needed, making them prisoners of habits.
It was from a mental prison to a real prison as they had to contend with hallucinations and fear of harm from unknown people.
For Clever Chitatu, who is now held at Chinhoyi Prison for culpable homicide, the fame he cherished never arrived as he spiralled into a life of quarrelling with family and petty crime.
“I went to Mbare to be with my uncle hoping to kick-start my life as a Zimdancehall artiste,” said Clever.
“While there, everything started changing and I was introduced to a life of drugs. Given the deep desire I had for music I tried the drugs and things got off the rails from that time.”
His belief and that of many other young people was that lyrics would flow like the Victoria Falls between April and July once he was on a high.
“The drugs give you the belief that you can do anything and they can make you a star,” lamented Clever who will be released in August.
While he carries pain from withdrawal symptoms, the emotional pain of realising that he had broken away from family and society bears heavily on him.
“To think that I would leave home for weeks and live like a street kid hurts me. The thought of people in our area telling their children not to hang around me because I would be a bad influence pains me to the marrow,” said Clever.
Nearby in Highfield, Harare, Nathan Muzirambi, also held at Chinhoyi for theft, was also charting a path that would lead him to prison. Pressed into taking the drugs by his peers, starting off with marijuana before going for the harder stuff, Nathan also started engaging in crime.
That path led to his wife leaving him as his behaviour became erratic.
His wife noticed the strange behaviour but could not see any visible signs of him being inebriated. However, one day she came across a small packet with white substance and realised that he was now into drugs.
She confronted him and he became violent, and one thing led to another, before she decided to pack her bags.
“I have lost so much because of the drugs. I took everything from crystal meth or mutoriro, cough syrups and mangemba (diazepam),” said Nathan, regret writhed all over him.
“The worst thing was that I ended up being arrested for theft and being taken away from my family, friends and the community in which I lived.”
For these two, all was well when it started but as the cravings grew, so was the needed budget to finance the lifestyle.
At US$10 a sachet for crystal meth, the price was too steep, so he did petty crimes to sustain his cravings.
“I started driving a pirate taxi and almost killed someone in the process. I was constantly at loggerheads with the owner of the vehicle until he took it away from me,” recounted Clever.
He is serving four months in prison after being sentenced to do community service as the alternative, but failed to do so owing to drugs, leading to the activation of the jail term.
For Nathan, everything was possible for as long it gave him money to satisfy his cravings.
Asked how the drugs made them feel, the two said the feeling was beyond description but that one constantly wanted to have more.
All they know is that they would get irritable if they did not get a hit.
While they are going through rehabilitation in prison, they have vowed to leave a clean life once they are released.
“I have seen the dangers of taking drugs and how it has destroyed my life and that of many people, especially youths. I want a fresh start,” said Clever.
Nathan is counting the cost of taking drugs as his eyesight is now failing him. “I cannot see properly and I have seen an eye specialist while in prison and he says they were some of the side effects of taking drugs,” said Nathan with a keen gaze.
On a positive note, a former drug addict, Mr Raymond Muchara said he had managed to clean up his life after several run-ins with the police.
“From a known criminal who frequented Chinhoyi Police Station because of crime including robbing people just to buy alcohol and drugs, I have turned around my life,” said Mr Muchara, who is now a sales representative of a local bank.
The three were giving testimonies at a recently held meeting in Chinhoyi dedicated to the campaign against drugs and substance abuse.
The Government has taken a bold stance against drug and substance abuse with President Mnangagwa recently launching the Zimbabwe Multi-Sectoral Drug and Substance Abuse Plan 2024-2030.
Mashonaland West Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Marian Chombo has also taken up the fight.
She said the vice was threatening the country’s moral fibre and short-circuiting life of future generations.
The managing director of the Fight Against Substance Abuse and Addiction rehabilitation centre in Norton, Mrs Abigail Magwenzi, said it was mostly young people who were falling victim to hard drugs.
Online Reporter