Chronicle Editor
Angela Sibanda, Showbiz Correspondent
PLUMTREE creatives are taking the anti-drugs campaign seriously with award-winning club Dj Yugoe set to host a 13-hour set at the town’s roundabout next week.
The set is to raise awareness on the dire consequences of drug abuse, which seems to be rising each day among young people. It will be held on February 25.
Yugoe’s committed performance to address drug abuse comes barely a month after Plumtree-based singer Babongile Sibanda’s walk from Bulawayo to Plumtree with the same intention of engaging the community and stirring conversations around the subject that is destroying the futures and lives of young people.
The campaign also comes a few weeks after the Zimbabwe Republic Police launched a nationwide anti-drug campaign that has seen the arrest of many drug dealers and suppliers.
In an interview, Dj Yugoe highlighted that the public has not reached a point of understanding campaigns and their meanings, as some see them as a waste of time and efforts.
“We have had people talking around this issue of campaigns and it is clear that some really do not understand that it is not about what gain will come from them or immediate solutions.
“This is about doing something odd, something unusual which involves a lot of sacrifice as a way of starting up conversations around subjects that the society seems not ready to talk about,” he said.
Yugoe’s set, that is expected to begin at 5am stretching into the evening, will also feature an official address by local authority, social services and health department representatives as they all partner up with artists to bring change in the border town.
“The number of crime cases are rising every day in our society and young people are engaging in so many behaviours that are socially unacceptable.
“Plumtree is a very small community, if you see cases starting to rise, it actually means it’s now all over the town and something needs to be done to contain drug abuse before too much damage is done,” said Yugoe.
Plumtree music promoter and creative Handsome Sibanda, who is also one of the people behind the organisation of these campaigns said drug abuse cases have been on the rise in the town since last year.
“It has actually reached another level because sometimes the cases are of very young kids who are still in primary school who have started experimenting with drugs.
“It is with the realisation that people usually follow artists and people like Babongile and Yugoe amongst others have an influence on young people that is why we are supporting their efforts with the hope that what they are doing will start conversations amongst the youth,” said Sibanda.
Dj Yugoe will set up his equipment at the roundabout, which is an entry point into town for people who reside in Medium Density, ZBS, Mathendele, Rangemore and other suburbs. It is also the same route used by those entering town from the border and rural areas such as Zimnyama, hence a perfect target point.
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