BY MUNYARADZI BLESSING DOMA
The Government has called on religious organisations to complement its efforts in fighting drug and substance abuse which is threatening the lives of many youths.
Speaking at a meeting with various religious leaders and representatives at his offices on Monday; Minister of Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training, Tino Machakaire, said there was need for divine intervention as the scourge was proving to be a menace.
He also revealed that youths had to be empowered in various business ventures like agriculture, so that they can develop themselves.
During the same meeting, the Zimbabwe Multisectoral Drug and Substance Abuse Plan 2024-2030, which was launched by President Mnangagwa recently, was also presented.
“Esteemed leaders, as shepherds of the youth in our congregations and organisations, we desire to get your views and ideas on ways to effectively collaborate to empower our youths and extricate them from this bondage.
“We do acknowledge that as religious organizations, you play a critical role in shaping the development of our youth and do have programmes in place that are dedicated to moulding and guiding them as they traverse the delicate phase of transitioning from childhood to adulthood.
“These programmes promote values of compassion, empathy, tolerance, and righteousness to help youth that agriculture is not a dirty business but lucrative and profitable.
“They should start to view farming as a business and a dynamic venture that rewards if done with passion. The most important thing is to farm from an informed point of view, and in this regard, my Ministry has a Business Development Department that can give information on what to grow for both the local and export market,” said Minister Machakaire.
Similar sentiments were also echoed by his Deputy, Kudakwashe Mupamhanga, who said the challenge which the country was facing requires collective efforts.
“There is need for a whole of government approach but I would also add to say the whole of society approach, so as a Ministry, we saw it fit to say, on this challenge that we are facing, let us call and invite leaders of religious organisations.
“This meeting is crucial so that we discuss all the issues affecting the youths. We did that because we realised that there are about 5,4 million youths, so looking at the church as a constituency and other religions organisations, we realise that you do quite a lot work.
“And you are a big stakeholder in shaping the moral fibre of our youths, so as a result, it’s very important that if are doing this, we need you. It is a fact that as government, we cannot do it alone and I would like to thank the vision of our President Dr E.D Mnangagwa because he has pushed for an inclusive society, he has pushed for inclusive government, he has pushed for the inclusion of young people, women and just last week, we were at a disability expo, where we had a lot of religious organisations there.
“So that as we build our nation, we leave no-one and no place behind, everyone has a role to play, so as result when we talk about fighting drug and substance abuse, all religious organisations, be it Christian, Moslem, Jewish, whatever, we each have a role to play,” said Minister Mupamhanga.
Speaking on the sidelines of the same event, Sheikh Ishmail Duwa, Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs Zimbabwe President, said the programme was really good because in all the scriptures be it in the Quran or Bible, God abhors the taking of drugs or substances.
“Because if people just take drugs willy-nilly, then there is no development in the country so I actually think that this programme should really be driven by all religious leaders.
“And according to Islam, the taking of drugs is a great sin against God, so we really support this programme.
“So we now need to look at how we can empower the youths, because we need to look at the root cause of these problems and most of this, is being caused by unemployment,” said Sheikh Duwa.
Another religious leader, Bishop Kingstone Musarurwa Chirau from the Church of God of Africa, said he was grateful for this programme because if all the plans are implemented, the country will make great strides to eliminate the scourge.
“If this problem is left untamed, it will really ruin the youths, we will have serious challenges hence we need to deal with this once and for all. If we have lost our youths, then it will spell doom for our nation.
“But with this programme, we are bound to have a better future because our youths will stop taking drugs because religious organisations have been included.
“We need to eliminate all harmful practices which are leading our youths to take drugs and we want to thank the President for launching Drug and Substance Abuse programme; we are really grateful for this.”
