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Drug addicts sent to Border Gezi camp
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More than 100 young people battling drug and substance abuse have been enrolled in a National Youth Service (NYS) camp in Zvishavane, Midlands Province, for a three-month rehabilitation and skills training programme, government officials confirmed.
The initiative is part of the government's revived NYS programme, which targets 10,000 youths—known as the Green Bombers—for training in fitness, discipline, and vocational skills. NYS camps, previously disbanded due to underfunding, were originally named after the late Zanu PF MP Border Gezi.
Deputy Minister of Youth Empowerment and Vocational Training, Kudakwashe Mupamhanga, told Parliament that 133 youths are currently undergoing training in Dadaya. "Out of these, 63 are graduates from the Angel of Hope Foundation, which is supported by First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa," he said.
Mupamhanga said the programme combines three months of physical training, including running, with three months of skills development such as bricklaying. Graduates are later absorbed into the Youth Build Zimbabwe Programme, which engages them in community development projects, including road maintenance, construction and rehabilitation of clinics and schools, and public borehole installations.
"When they complete training at the NYS, most of them desist from drugs," Mupamhanga said. "The programme not only keeps youth occupied but also provides a platform for acquiring skills, empowering them, and steering them away from illicit substances."
The move comes amid rising drug abuse among Zimbabwean youths, largely driven by unemployment and economic hardship. President Emmerson Mnangagwa has called for tougher penalties against drug abusers and the cartels supplying narcotics.
Mupamhanga noted that the ministry is collaborating with the Angel of Hope Foundation to enrol rehabilitation centre graduates into the NYS. He added that the government's anti-drug campaign, "No To Dangerous Drugs And Illicit Substances: See Something, Say Something," seeks to curb both supply and consumption of illegal substances across the country.
The initiative is part of the government's revived NYS programme, which targets 10,000 youths—known as the Green Bombers—for training in fitness, discipline, and vocational skills. NYS camps, previously disbanded due to underfunding, were originally named after the late Zanu PF MP Border Gezi.
Deputy Minister of Youth Empowerment and Vocational Training, Kudakwashe Mupamhanga, told Parliament that 133 youths are currently undergoing training in Dadaya. "Out of these, 63 are graduates from the Angel of Hope Foundation, which is supported by First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa," he said.
"When they complete training at the NYS, most of them desist from drugs," Mupamhanga said. "The programme not only keeps youth occupied but also provides a platform for acquiring skills, empowering them, and steering them away from illicit substances."
The move comes amid rising drug abuse among Zimbabwean youths, largely driven by unemployment and economic hardship. President Emmerson Mnangagwa has called for tougher penalties against drug abusers and the cartels supplying narcotics.
Mupamhanga noted that the ministry is collaborating with the Angel of Hope Foundation to enrol rehabilitation centre graduates into the NYS. He added that the government's anti-drug campaign, "No To Dangerous Drugs And Illicit Substances: See Something, Say Something," seeks to curb both supply and consumption of illegal substances across the country.
Source - Southern Eye
