The Sunday Mail
Veronica Gwaze
OBEY MUJAJI, who is aged 10, has a life that many of his peers would never envy.
While some of his agemates are busy with schoolwork or nagging their parents for new toys and clothes, Obey, at times, has to be content with playing parent to his 19-month-old younger brother.
The toddler is often left in the custody of the minor when their mother, Patience Mujaji, is at “work”.
Mujaji is a commercial sex worker and usually plies her trade at night.
However, she also has clients that sometimes require her services during the day, which means Obey has to skip class to cover for her at home.
The income the matriarch earns from the world’s oldest profession is hardly enough to pay fees for her son, put food on the table and settle rental bills at their Glen View lodging.
The financial squeeze equally makes it impossible for her to hire a domestic helper.
At night, Mujaji usually drugs her younger son to sleep so that he does not give his elder brother challenges.
Initially, she used to overdose him with cooking oil but she has since switched to different cough syrups, among them BronCleer, which she considers “effective”.
Mujaji understands that overdosing her son with cough syrups may lead to serious health complications but argues she has little or no option.
“With the cough syrup, he (baby) barely wakes up during the night, but in the event that he does, Obey attends to him. He offers him food and if he does not fall back to sleep, he is given another dose of the medicine as I would have instructed,” she said.
But some are going to extremes by administering sleeping tablets to the minors.
Sleeping tablets are said to be addictive and require a prescription for one to buy them.
However, they are often smuggled from outside the country and sold on the streets. In some cases, people bribe corrupt pharmacists for easy access to the tablets.
Unfortunate
Tendai Muchemwa’s mother died in 2008 when she was eight. Her father passed away two years later.
She was left in the custody of her maternal grandmother.
As fate would have it, when she turned 15, her grandmother also died.
She then stayed on the streets of Murewa town, before deciding to become a commercial sex worker to sustain herself.
However, at 16, she got impregnated by a man who abandoned her when he found out that she was expecting.
“Life was unbearable; I had no choice but to become a prostitute. Weeks after giving birth, I went back to prostitution to provide for the child. I had no one to take care of the baby while at work.
“The baby used to give me challenges at night, refusing to sleep, until a friend advised me to overdose her with cooking oil, which always made her sleep. I do not use sleeping tablets like some of my colleagues,” revealed Tendai.
This is a predicament that faces most commercial sex workers.
While some can afford to part with a few dollars to leave their babies under their neighbours’ care, others have to take the risk of leaving their offspring unattended, especially during the night.
Cooking oil, cough syrups and sleeping tablets have seemingly become an “easy” option for those who cannot afford domestic workers.
The trend is, however, not new as there have been reports in the past of parents or grandparents who used to give minors opaque beer. This was done to enable them to attend night vigils when the minors fell asleep — presumably drunk.
Worry
The Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare confirmed receiving reports of the sad development and said culprits risk being arrested.
“A minor should be under the care of their parents at all times. It is worrying when we get reports of such cases. We always swiftly move in to take action. Most of the reports come through tip-offs from the community. Drugging minors is against the law,” said the ministry’s Harare provincial social welfare officer, Mrs Susan Ngani.
Most cases are recorded in urban areas, largely high-density suburbs. She, however, did not give exact figures.
“We have officers in all districts across the country, so, after receiving reports, we engage them to assess the situation.
“Depending on their findings, the officers also suggest solutions to the situation and in the worst cases, we take the children into safe spaces. We urge communities to assist us by reporting cases of child abuse or neglect,” she added.
In all the cases, the children are taken to a health care facility, where they undergo various tests to check if there are any traces of drugs.
“Once drugs are detected in their system, they automatically go through the detoxification and rehabilitation process,” added Mrs Ngani.
The Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare is currently working on new strategies aimed at assisting the commercial sex workers so that they can live a decent life.
Ministry of Health and Child Care spokesperson Mr Donald Mujiri said drugging minors is a serious offence as it compromises their health, both physically and psychologically.
“It comes with both long- and short-term effects to these children, hence the need for us to protect them. The fact that they are minors and cannot make choices means their rights are being violated, and, sadly, most of these cases never come to light,” he said.
“Whenever we receive such cases, we let the law take its course, but above all, we urge the community to make reports.”
Zimbabwe National Council for the Welfare of Children director Reverend Taylor Nyanhete weighed in.
“This is an issue that needs to be treated seriously.
“According to Zimbabwean law, it is a criminal offence to leave children unattended, exposing them to danger.
“Community members are obligated to alert the authorities or children’s welfare organisations if they notice these practices. Individuals should understand that their identities can be protected when they raise the alarm,” said Rev Nyanhete.
He urged the media to raise awareness on such issues, and the authorities to create dedicated hotlines through which members of the public report the cases.
Complications
Health expert Dr Ebison Chinherende said administering drugs to minors causes them to be drowsy or high and, as a result, they sleep for prolonged hours.
However, this can cause side effects like crankiness and hyperactivity in the short term, while bad behaviour issues may arise in the long term.
“This comes with severe side effects in some cases.
“A child’s mental or physical development may be affected. Chances are that there will be high levels of morphine in their bloodstream as it is contained in some of these drugs and this can lead to short- and long-term effects such as breathing difficulties.
“Codeine may also lead to fatal or life-threatening respiratory depression,” he warned.
According to health experts, some of the children may even become drug-resistant, which may complicate their situations should they fall sick.
Long-term effects of abusing sleeping tablets include chronic fatigue, confusion or memory issues, disruptive sleep-related disorders, severe stomach upset and challenges in concentration or completing tasks.
Psychologist Dr Nisbert Mangoro said children who experience such conditions may in future experience mental health challenges.
“They may also exhibit traits of mood swings, anxiety, fear, depression, shame, loneliness, confusion and anger.
“What a child is often subjected to between the ages of zero and 14 years usually manifests as negative effects later in life.
“Dangers are also that a child who is subjected to drugs at a young age may develop a dislike for school,” argued Dr Mangoro.
Physician Dr Cyril Gwaimani noted: “A child who is subjected to drugs can suffer impaired growth and altered brain development. Impaired growth usually manifests through lack of coordination of their different body parts and being slow or failing in terms of physical abilities.”
