Online Reporter
Stephen Mpofu, Perspective
TODAY’S youth must be Zimbabwe’s brave new future, just as they should be the bright future of any nation if peace and order are to prevail in our global village.
However, the drug menace currently plaguing Zimbabwe’s youth offers no such bright future for our beautiful motherland. It is therefore incumbent upon key stakeholders — our Government, born from the armed revolution, parents, and other key players — to create a conducive environment for young people to shape a brighter future for generations to come.
The drugs and substances circulating in Zimbabwe are turning young people into virtual zombies.
One is led to believe this is at the behest of the devil, with the peddlers acting as his agents, seeking to reverse the gains of the armed revolution. Ironically, it was young men and women who bore the brunt of racist colonisers’ machine guns and fighter planes to bring about the independence, freedom, peace, and national development we see today.
The drugs destroying young lives include marijuana (mbanje), which is grown domestically, bronco, crystal meth, chlorpromazine, mutoriro, and guka.
Reliable sources from rehabilitation facilities report that mutoriro causes impotence, and that some of these drugs are trafficked from East Africa, through some SADC countries, to southern
Zimbabwe and into our nation. Others come across our northern borders, wreaking havoc. Some users resort to stealing and selling possessions to fund their drug habits. (For instance, this writer had an imported lawnmower stolen and dismantled by known young addicts to buy more of these dangerous substances.)
Some law-abiding young people, speaking anonymously, suggested that opportunities, such as jobs, should be created. They believe that occupying young minds with progressive developmental tasks, such as employment, is crucial, as the devil uses idle minds for crime, including drug use.
This suggests, in this writer’s opinion, that schools should incorporate job skills into their curricula.
This would enable graduates to move directly into their chosen careers.
Our Government might consider this option, alongside other measures, to prepare students for the country’s future — economically, politically, and socially — as vital ingredients for national unity, peace, and stability.
Urban communities, where the drug menace is rampant, should establish neighbourhood watch committees to police their areas against drug trafficking and abuse. The police and law courts must act decisively to maintain law and order.
As current chair of SADC, Zimbabwe is well-placed to encourage other member states to prevent drugs from being trafficked across their borders.
It is likely that those who impose sanctions on our country, in response to our land reform programme, hope that the drug problem will derail our national development, peace, and stability.
In these circumstances, Zimbabweans, including opposition parties, must unite against the drug peddling menace. All progressive citizens, regardless of political affiliation, must stand together so that all young people, including their own children, refrain from actions that would negate the freedom, peace, and stability that liberation heroes fought so hard to achieve.
A crackdown on smugglers, including those dealing in drugs, is essential.
If young men and women, armed only with AK rifles, faced down snakes, mosquitoes, and the enemy’s machine guns and aircraft, driven by their determination to bring freedom to the masses, why can’t today’s youth use modern technology to transform lives, as is happening elsewhere?
“Mind-boggling” is not the answer.
Patriotic Zimbabwean institutions, including businesses, educational bodies, and churches, should rally behind the government. This support is crucial to empower Zimbabwean youth to contribute to development, transform our society, and progress alongside other nations, instead of being held back.
In conclusion, all developmental initiatives should be guided by the principle: “nyika inovakwa nevene vayo/ilizwe lakhiwa nganinilo/a country is built by its owners.”
