Online Reporter
B-Metro Reporter
AS society battles the scourge of Vuzu parties after schools closed on 6 August, it has emerged that the shindigs have evolved to avoid police scrutiny and that drug dealers use them to turn school children into addicts.
Vuzu parties are wild affairs where school kids take dangerous drugs and engage in unprotected group sex.
Dangers of sexually transmitted diseases, alcoholism, drug addiction and unplanned pregnancies abound.
They are usually organised and hosted by older people who reportedly take advantage of vulnerable, intoxicated children.
School children who spoke to B-Metro literally laughed at police and said: “Cops are clueless and are wasting resources on a wild goose chase.”
“This is the age of the internet. We no longer meet physically to organise our parties and we no longer use fixed venues,” said a girl from a local school.
“Organisers arrange a kombi with tinted windows, we pile in and drive around town enjoying ourselves until we are done,” said the girl.
The internet has christened the new version of Vuzu parties “Mjeje Parties.”
When asked who organises the parties, the children said they did not know.
“Only people who can keep a secret are invited. We know the day and time when a party will be held but we never know the venue or pick-up place. We just stay ready.
“On the day of the party we get a message from a foreign number and get picked up. The police will never catch us,” boldly declared a teen from a boarding school in Matabeleland South.
The school children insisted they were having “harmless fun” but adults were overreacting.
“We are grown up and clever in our own ways. Nobody forces us to go to these parties. We know how to protect ourselves even when we get drunk. Besides, we only do this three or four times a year. It is our way of unwinding from the stress of attending endless lessons every day.”
However, a dark side to the seemingly innocent parties was revealed by a 22-year-old man who is now battling drug addiction after he was introduced to dangerous substances at Vuzu parties while still at school.
“I started attending Vuzu parties about seven years ago when I was in Form Three. Drugs like crystal meth, marijuana, alcohol and sex flowed freely there. We were having the time of our lives. I think organisers of these parties keep track of us. I realised I could no longer do without crystal meth and alcohol when I was in Form Five. Someone contacted me and they started selling them to me,” said the man, who requested anonymity.
“I dropped out of school and my dream of becoming a pilot went up in smoke. At one time my family kicked me out after I started selling household property to feed my habit. I have been in and out of rehabilitation a number of times but every time I find myself returning to this destructive habit,” he said.
His story mirrors warnings from addiction specialists that drug dealers often provide free or cheap drugs to young people before turning them into paying customers once dependency develops.
“I want to advise children who think taking drugs is harmless fun to think long and hard. I know my life is going down the drain but I’m powerless against this. Addiction is a terrible thing. If I could turn back the hands of time, the one thing I would do differently is to avoid Vuzu parties like poison.”
The revelations come as Zimbabwe intensifies its national anti-drug campaign. In recent years, authorities have declared drug and substance abuse a national priority, with police conducting regular nationwide raids under the “No to Dangerous Drugs and Illicit Substances” campaign while Government has rolled out awareness programmes in schools and communities.
According to the Zimbabwe Republic Police, thousands of suspects have been arrested in countrywide anti-drug operations since the campaign was intensified, with crystal meth (mutoriro), cannabis, illicit alcohol and unregistered medicines among the substances most commonly seized.
Health experts have repeatedly warned that many adult addicts are first introduced to drugs while still in their teens, making early prevention critical.
Police in Bulawayo have in recent years heightened security during the last weeks before schools close and open, monitoring pick-up spots like Haddon and Sly and the Bulawayo Centre where children are picked up, including houses known to have hosted Vuzus in the past. Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector
Nomalanga Msebele has described Vuzu parties as a “breeding ground for criminal behaviour, drug misuse, sexual exploitation and violence,” warning that older people and drug dealers exploit such gatherings to lure minors into drug abuse and other crimes.
She urged parents to monitor their children’s movements during school holidays and called on communities to report suspected Vuzu parties to police.
