The Sunday News
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
THE Minister of State for Bulawayo Metropolitan Provincial Affairs, Cde Judith Ncube, has said vuzu parties continue to wreak havoc in what is left of the moral fabric, urging stakeholders to take an active role in dealing with the menace.
Cde Ncube was speaking last week during the inauguration of the Bulawayo South Rotary Club president, Ms Nomhle Nyoni.
“I am pleased to learn that Rotary has youth programmes which include Youth Exchange, Early Act, Interact clubs which provide very good alternatives to some detrimental behaviour that our young people are involved in such as drug abuse and the vuzu parties that have taken root in our community in Bulawayo,” she said.
“Vuzu parties are a stain on the moral fibre of our society. Rape, sexual abuse become by-products of these parties and unless we act now we will see these crimes filter into our homes and communities.
“In Cowdray Park we are fighting drug and substance abuse with a new centre being built for that purpose,” she said.
The Rotary Club will also take a leading role in dealing with wayward behaviour among youth.
Mrs Nyoni said she was determined to see change among youth and help them come up with opportunities creating meetings than engaging in the parties.
“We need to change these vuzu parties into vision parties where we share motivational and educational things with the youth and also to enlighten them on the effects of delinquent behaviour.
“We are going to work with youth so that they remain focused and we are catching them young, we want to start from primary school, at high school we already have interact clubs were we tackle various issues,” she said.
She said some youth were into vuzu parties because of lack of grooming saying it must however, not be a culture that these wild parties continue as they have severe negative effects.
Mrs Nyoni said they will rope in prominent figures and role models from the city that will address youths at vision parties and speak to them about focusing on their education and staying away from vuzu parties.
She said the Rotary Club usually have youth exchange programmes each year where selected youths go overseas like Germany and stay there for a year and also facilitate that a student from there stay for the same period and learn things about Zimbabwe.
Ms Nyoni said Rotary Club has been involved in providing furniture and books to 30 schools in Matobo, Umguza and Bubi Districts and have also ventured into the health sector by equipping health institutions with some necessities.
The club is also paying tuition for a medical student at the National University of Science and Technology.
Due to Rotary Club’s partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation they have managed to nearly eradicate polio worldwide and have set malaria as the next disease that must be wiped out.
