Story by Tichaona Kurewa
THE Zimbabwe Republic Police and churches in Matabeleland North Province are collaborating to escalate the fight against drug and substance abuse through awareness campaigns and other measures.
As part of efforts to intensify the fight against drug and substance abuse, government has converted all idle provincial COVID-19 isolation facilities into multi-sectorial drug rehabilitation centres.
In the same vein, the police will also establish drugs and narcotics units at four border posts including Beitbridge and Victoria Falls as well as increasing awareness campaigns around the country.
This Sunday, the police in Victoria Falls joined hands with the United Methodist Church to raise awareness on the subject in the resort city and beyond much to the delight of congregants.
“This is excellent, every platform must be used to fight drug and substance abuse, the problem is real we are seeing it every day. This session has helped us to understand this problem and we can now contribute meaningfully to eliminate it,” said a congrengant.
Another said, “We now know how to observe our children if they are into drugs or not and how to help them out of the problem.”
The church and the police reiterated the need for all stakeholders to work together to end the menace.
“The country is working towards the attainment of Vision 2030 and drug and substance abuse is threatening this vision, we urge you as church to preach against drug and substance abuse and save communities,” said ZRP Victoria Falls Member in Charge Operations, Detective Endless Mwenye.
He added, “We are not partnering churches only but we are using every platform where people are gathered to talk about the dangers of drug and substance abuse. As the police we are using every possible platform to educate the public about this scourge.”
“We appreciate what the police are doing. It will go a long way to end this problem. As a church armed with this information from the police, we will also play our part to educate our members and beyond on the impact of drug 6and substance abuse on the community and as individuals, Imagine, having a church full of congregants who abuse drugs, it doesn’t end well,” noted United Methodist Church Victoria Falls Circuit lay leader, Mr Tendai Kowo.
Drug and substance abuse is threatening to derail the attainment of a national vision to attain an upper middle income-generating economy by 2030, hence efforts by government and other stakeholders to eliminate drug and substance abuse.
