Tau Tawengwa: Arresting Zimbabwe’s moral decay

By Tau Tawengwa

I recently read some data emanating from research that was conducted among Zimbabwean youth. The research presented some thought-provoking insights that caught my attention.

In summary, the research interrogated the feelings and perceptions of our youths on a variety of social, political and lifestyle-related issues.

One of the most curious findings for me was the way our youths responded when they were asked what they specifically felt has had a negative impact on their communities.

Nearly half of the youths answered by saying that they feel that drugs have negatively impacted their communities. That statistic shouldn’t be taken lightly.

In fact it provoked me to dig deeper around the issue of substance abuse, and to try to find solutions to these problems. What I found is what I’m writing to you today.

In this article I intend to discuss the impact of substance abuse on a country when it is left unabated.

I will also attempt to highlight some of the most positive interventions taken by President Mnangagwa’s administration so far, and I will conclude by suggesting a few more practical solutions to this social problem.

Firstly, let me highlight that according to the research I mentioned earlier, the issue of drugs is equally having an impact in high density, medium density, low density and rural communities, meaning that it’s a matter of concern for us all, irrespective of income or class.

Secondly, it’s important to observe that in an economy like ours the illicit traffic of drugs does not only have a negative impact socially, but it has a negative economic impact as well.

In fact most of the illicit drugs that are traded in Zimbabwe (particularly broncleer/codeine, cocaine, nyaupe/heroin, ecstasy, and crystal meth) are criminally imported into the country, meaning that substance abuse in Zimbabwe is directly related to the illegal externalisation of foreign currency.

Now, although no substantial home-grown research has been done on the extent of contemporary Zimbabwe’s substance abuse problem (perhaps except the research I’m presently concluding) reports reveal that over 50 Zimbabweans, (mostly women) have been arrested in various countries since 2012 for drug trafficking, while several others have been arrested at Robert Mugabe International trying to smuggle drugs into Zimbabwe.

Furthermore, while the dollar value of substance abuse in the country has not yet been quantified, it is estimated that it runs into the millions. Additional estimates indicate that about 60% of Zimbabwean youth occasionally engage in drugs.

Nevertheless, the most alarming thing is that the number of drug users in the country continues to grow.

Now, one thing that I must mention here is that it is incorrect to state that substance abuse only increases in a country when there is socio-political or socio-economic decline.

That argument is linear and too simplistic for this complex social problem.

In fact research reveals that irrespective of whether an economy is doing well (eg: USA, Britain, South Africa, Brazil) or doing badly substance abuse is on the increase worldwide.

The reason is this: drug cartels and drug dealers are always looking to expand their market base.

This simply means that they are constantly looking for new ways to recruit new people to a life of addiction.

The dealers try to convince the youth to do drugs, all the while calculating on how to get those people addicted so that they become permanent customers.

How do they do it? Research shows that in countries like the UK, primary school children as young as eight years old are being recruited by drug dealers in school.

The dealers give them free “hits” in school and offer them incentives if they recruit their friends.

High school kids are recruited at “all white parties” and other types of lascivious events which are disguised as “bling,“ yet these are often events intended for drug recruitment and money laundering.

The danger of all this is that there is a generation of addicts on the rise, and research from all over the world shows that there is direct relationship between substance abuse, gangs and violent crime.

The ongoing gang wars in the Cape flats, for instance, attests to this.

Furthermore, when substance abuse continues unabated, research reveals that drug cartels become so influential that they start trying to influence politics.

In fact earlier this year Newsweek reported that in the run-up to the 2018 Mexican elections, the powerful Mexican drug cartels were targeting politicians that they saw as threats to the Mexican drug trade

As a result, between September 2017 and July 2018, over 80 Mexican politicians from across the political divide were killed.

We don’t want that in Zimbabwe.

So what can be done to address this emerging drug problem?

Firstly I must mention here that president Mnangagwa’s zero tolerance to corruption approach is the right step, at the right time in the right direction.

However in the fight against substance abuse it should be complemented by more measures outlined below.

The necessary next step is for government to commission substantive research on the extent of substance abuse in Zimbabwe, with the aim of unravelling the transit routes, the extent of consumption and the drivers behind why people initially choose to take drugs and why they continue taking drugs.

Such research could encompass Zimbabwe and also draw respondents from other countries in the region.

The intelligence emanating from that research would better equip the state in their strategizing of how to stop the drug inflows and illicit outflows of hard currency by drug cartels.

Finally, armed with the information emanating from the research I mentioned, the state should then rope in the key institutions in our society (ie: religious institutions, educational institutions, the media and the not-for-profit sector) and equip them to aggressively conscientize our populace on the hazards of substance abuse.

The youth should be consistently bombarded at school, at church, at home on radio and everywhere on the dangers associated with choosing a life of substance abuse.

Ultimately, the matter of substance abuse boils down to individual choice. However, it is essential to compile an empirical and extensive report which unravels, among other things, the reasons why our young people are choosing to take drugs.

Once armed with such a report, we will be able to make more informed recommendations and decisions on how to influence our young people to choose better.

Tau Tawengwa is a social researcher with a particular interest in case studies and ethnographic methods. [email protected]