Denzel Chadonha a 17 year old young man from Dzivarasekwa high density suburb narrates his story sitting at the street corner, a saddening atmosphere around him. Life is extremely tough and the unemployment condition in the country making life miserable. Taking drugs has become stress anaesthetic and being a father at 17 years a nightmare.

“Haaa to me and other ghetto youths, sitting ‘muma’ bridge is now our way of life. We no longer think of anything besides drugs because of the circumstances surrounding our country. Munyika amuna mabasa (there is no employment in the country).”he said.

A stable economy is one major thing that people look up to in their day to day lives. The issues of bread and butter are critical in human lives as there is need for survival. And if there is no employment people are bound to suffer.

Due to the deteriorating of economy in Zimbabwe, children below the age of 18 are now involved in strange activities such as drug abuse, stealing, sex among others. It’s a taboo to have boys as young as 16 years married.

In an interview with Programmes Coordinator of the Zimbabwe Civil Liberties and Drug network, Mr Hilton Nyamukapa he said,, “there are many issues that can lead to the rise of drug abuse among the youth that has been seen as the major cause of these early marriages in boys by the residents of Dzivarasekwa one of them being unemployment”.

“Unemployment has devastating impact on the social well- being of the society, be it children or parents. An idle mind is the workshop of the devil. If you have nothing to do that is when one starts doing things that are not excepted” said one of the parents in Dzivarasekwa Mr Liven

It is not only Denzel in such a situation but a number of other boys have found themselves in the same scenario he added.

The Constitution under chapter 2 section 19 states that “The State must adopt policies and measures to ensure that in matters relating to children, the best interests of the children concerned are paramount.” A Policy should be put in place that have interest on both the girl child and the boy child and not overlooking the other.

The government need to take action before the future is destroyed as the children are the future of tomorrow. The newly elected cabinet must revive the economy and industries should be open for employment, without this the lives of children are at stake.