KATIMA MULILO – Alcohol and drug abuse among Zambezi youth were some of the pressing issues Affirmative Repositioning movement leader Job Amupanda picked up during his community engagement this week in the region.
He said the abuse is particularly worse in informal settlements.
He visited some informal settlements, where he encountered how young people have given up on life.
“We went to Dairy, Macaravan and Cowboy informal settlements. I am familiar with informal settlements. It was so sad. I came across young people who have completely given up on life. One of them came to me and said, ‘I am not going to hide it from you because you are young like me’. He said to me, ‘I do drugs – and on a daily basis I am drunk, whether I have money or someone buys for me’. He also says sometimes, ‘I go and do crime to be able to buy drugs’,” Amupanda narrated his encounter.
He said the young man confided in him that despite his circumstances, he gotr 30 points in grade 12.
However, he had to drop out of school, and never continued with his education to get a brighter future.
“These young men, born and bred in the Zambezi region, living in those informal settlements, tell me they have given up on life, and they have nothing to do but drugs and alcohol. It was very sad. Normally, people who do drugs would go and hide. That’s the story we found among young people. How do we solve those problems in the Zambezi region and all over the country? There must be a response,” the AR leader said.
He added that he observed the face of poverty in those informal settlements.
“One sees it [poverty] face to face. You meet it there. You completely see it in the bodies of these young men and women who have completely given up on life,” the politician painted the picture.
During his state of the region address, Zambezi governor Lawrence Sampofu assured the nation that the security cluster is working tirelessly to ensure security stability and a safe environment.
He said crime prevention operations, community engagements and investigations of offences were intensified.
“Awareness campaigns and alerting the community about community policing, cross border crimes, stock theft, gender-based violence, drug and alcohol abuse as well as unexploded ordinance were conducted,” he noted.