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Stephen Mpofu 

Popularly known especially by whites in colonial Rhodesia as The City of Progress developmentally, the Midlands provincial capital, Gweru has tragically become a city of reversed progress in an independent progressive nation of Zimbabwe and this should be brought to an end forthwith before populations in smaller towns are polluted by decadent moral standards now dangerously prevalent in Gweru.

This discourse bemoans a decadent situation in a city of 283 004 but where sexually transmitted infections have become prevalent especially among young adults with 214 cases recorded in November last year according to Gweru city health director, Mr Sam Sekenhamo. 

And come to think of it, illicit drugs and substances, namely crystal meth are responsible for precipitating moral and cultural decline among especially among the younger generations hooked to the illicit drugs.

It is all very well for Mr Sam Sekenhamo to give a detailed outline of the moral decay now prevalent in Gweru, but, surely, is it beyond the capacity of health authorities in Gweru to track down suppliers of the illicit drugs responsible for the moral decay of a small city population of just 283 004?

A blitz-krieg of the suppliers of the drugs causing rotten moral behaviours in Gweru appears long overdue and this communicologist humbly and strongly believes that it is not beyond the capacity of a combined force of health and law enforcement agents to swoop on the suppliers of the drugs responsible for the rotten moral behaviours of young adults as reported by Mr Sekenhamo and in the process track down the suppliers of the drugs responsible for the reports that taint the morality picture of thousands of Gweru residents.

Throwing the suppliers of the dangerous drugs behind bars to rot for years will obviously prevent residents of smaller Midlands towns from copying the decadent lifestyles now making Gweru infamous, under the belief that today as during colonial Rhodesia Gweru remains a city of progress.

What is obvious in the present situation in Gweru is that many more young Zimbabweans at workplaces and tragically so in schools to prepare for their roles in developing our motherland, might get hooked to the drugs and get off the roadmap of taking our beloved country to a brave new future.

Actually, it must boggle the minds of many to think what will happen to cities such as Harare and Bulawayo with bigger populations if illicit drug barons start to rule the roost in those cities in the absence of preemptive measures that a place such as Gweru now in the grip of decadent morals should demonstrate fire power as a warning to all and sundry drug peddlers in the country that the government will not fold its arms while good moral standards are rendered haywire by drug peddlers keen to earn a living by evil standards as things are in Gweru.

It is a well-known fact that the consumption of illicit drugs and substances is responsible for violent as well as criminal behaviours in addition to sexual immorality, all of which make any country where these abominable lifestyles a laughing stock to civilized people elsewhere in the global village.

A picture of the subject matter in this discourse, is painted by Mr. Sekenhamo strongly suggests that the powers that be wield stiff brooms to cleanse our society of any and all practices capable of moral decay in our society to make all of us Zimbabweans a laughingstock in the eyes of civilised societies in the global village.

As the saying goes: “a stitch in time saves nine.”