War against illicit drugs most welcome

Stephen Mpofu, Perspective

EVEN though seemingly belated, Government’s all-out blitz against the drugs and substance scourge which threatens to ruin this country’s positive development initiatives ,is to all intents and purposes most welcome.

But that is not all as communities in all urban settlements in Zimbabwe must rally to the Government’s all-out war against companies and individuals that seek to swell their pockets through deals in substances and drugs which have negative effects on youths in particular, not to mention their retrogressive effects on Zimbabwe’s education system which is credited for putting the country among Africa’s highest literacy ratings.

Earlier this week one local radio broadcast must have left many gasping with shock on hearing that more than five million Zimbabweans needed jobs for themselves and their families as well as for the country’s economic and social development.

The jobseekers in-point, among them jobless youths locked up at their ghetto corners, become a collective lucrative market for the dealers in illegal drugs and substances for whom only their bellies and pockets matter the most.

Therefore and in light of the danger at which Zimbabwean society is exposed, the Government must be commended for blacklisting four pharmaceutical companies and three individuals linked to drug and substance abuse.

But surely there must be many more culprits involved in spiriting out the dangerous drugs and substances all the while looking over their backs to ensure that no one watches them.

But the Government is not and should not be expected to be everywhere at all times to protect society from illicit deals such as the drugs and substances now being dispensed under cover of darkness.

But communities are everywhere as they are formats of suburbs or townships in urban setups.

But be that as it may, human frailty would appear to suggest that individualism rather than collective responsibility is an anomaly in most suburban areas with a belief that each family is responsible for raising its own child.

But surely, should not all communities be responsible for all children raised in them so that peace and harmony rein and delinquencies of any form are kept at bay?

This communicologist humbly believes that if neighbourhood watch committees in all suburban areas regarded it as also part of their collective responsibilities, the drugs and substance dealers in those areas would develop cold feet each time they consider residents as potential markets.

But, of course, entry points into Zimbabwe of those dangerous drugs and substances must be kept under strict surveillance with severe penalties imposed on anyone caught in the act of spiriting the harmful drugs and substances into the country.

File photo: Some of the drugs recovered by the police

It should therefore also be the responsibility of teachers at all institutions of learning, particularly boarding schools, to ensure that their charges are protected from any and all exposure to the illicit drugs and substances which can destroy the children’s futures.

With illegal western sanctions imposed on our country to try to remove the revolutionaries from power having failed, the possibility of those external forces now resorting to other means such as drugs along with other dangerous materials to demobilise Zimbabwean society in our relentless march forward into continuous brave new futures cannot be ruled out.

So let us all close ranks to seal any loopholes through which the enemy, or enemies, using whatever lethal means at their disposal might sneak in to destabilise our country in a bid, for instance, to install neo-colonialism for us, Zimbabweans to kowtow to imperialists and their machinations.