dyton mupawaenda
TEMBA Mliswa was a relieved man on Monday when his daughter, Mudiwa, was acquitted of charges of having been found in possession of drugs at a house in Harare.
The State was alleging that on February 22, this year, Mudiwa and her friend Tawanda Chigudu were found in possession of drugs at a house in Avonlea.
Detectives conducted a search at the house where a sachet with a white substance was recovered from underneath a sofa.
A preliminary field test was conducted and the substance tested positive for crystal meth and weighed 1.3 grammes.
Mudiwa and Tawanda were arrested and, after a full trial, they were acquitted.
Harare magistrate Ruth Moyo acquitted the two and said the State failed to prove both its case as there were other adults in the house who could have been the owners of the drugs.
She noted that Mudiwa was a visitor at the house and as she had no control of what was in the house.
She said the State witnesses failed to corroborate their evidence which created doubt in the eyes of the court as to what happened on the day in question.
Mliswa welcomed the verdict but it’s what he said, outside the court when being interviewed by reporters, which caught our attention.
He said he now wanted Mudiwa to be an advocate against drugs and substance abuse.
The politician said he also wants tougher laws that will punish those who are supplying drugs across the country.
He said it was important that Mudiwa picks up some big lessons, including that she has to associate with the right people and she has to do the right things.
Mliswa is right that this should be a turning point for his daughter.
He was right to confront the problem rather than just get drowned in the euphoria which followed the judgment which came in his daughter’s favour.
That was good because there is no question that Mudiwa was associating with the wrong people and this created the problems she faced.
Some fathers would have taken this opportunity to lie that their daughters are angels and their prosecution was the work of some rival politicians.
They would have claimed that their daughter is a prime example of the model daughter every father dreams of and this was the work of people who wanted to tarnish their name.
But Mliswa decided to do the right thing to confront the problem head on and, at the same time, counsel his daughter that the time had come for her to make the right choices.
This is what we expect from real fathers.
We know our children face a lot of challenges as they are growing up and if they choose some bad friends we know this eventually affects them and drags them into such dark spots.
We have a serious problem with drugs and substance abuse and we agree with Mliswa that a lot of effort should be put in disrupting the supply chain.
Some of these people are known in our communities and it’s about time they are brought to book.
Online Reporter