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Lusaka buying blow

Young people in the Chibolya slum in Lusaka start taking drugs out of desperation. In Zambia's capital, Lusaka, minutes away from the city's commercial hub, is Chibolya - the most feared slum in the city where even the police do not dare to tread. On the way into the slum, bumpy tracks give way to a dirt path, lined with houses covered in plastic. Outside one shack, four year-old boys share a joint as the smell of cannabis drifts through the township. Inside a small wooden house, the television is blaring. People are slumped over, many passed out. This is where addicted workers come to get their morning hit of cannabis, crack cocaine or heroin before work; and where those without a job spend their day. One of the men slumped outside the shack is year-old heroin addict, Simon Banda. Nationwide figures for dependency are impossible to know, but even the Drug Enforcement Commission DEC , a government body tasked with controlling national drug trafficking, is concerned there are growing numbers of addicts in Zambia. DEC spokesperson John Nyawali says: 'The commission is extremely worried about the increasing number of teenagers abusing narcotics such as cocaine and heroin. This is an indication that Zambia is no longer a transit nation but slowly drifting to a drug consumer nation. Scott Robertson, a clinical social worker based in Lusaka, is sure that the number of people using hard drugs like heroin and cocaine is increasing. Yes,' he says. What is more, rehabilitation facilities to cope with even existing drug problems are severely lacking. The DEC does run a rehabilitation programme. But with a staff of six, Sharpz has reached full capacity - and it is struggling to find funding. Mr Banda admits that he wants help. But there is no-one to go to,' he says, resignedly. The problem is not confined to the poverty-stricken compounds. From unemployment to depression, the reasons for taking mind-numbing drugs may be different, but addiction cuts through class and colour. Drugs are often transported through Africa en route to Europe. Charlie Allan, a year-old white Zambian farmer, has spent days with the addicts in Chibolya, watching television and smoking away the pain. A heroin addict for seven years, it was the death of family members that turned him to drugs. Mr Allan sold everything in his house: Fridge, satellite dish, cooker and furniture. Then he went to the doctor to ask for Subutex, a drug to ease heroin dependency. But no other help or advice was available. A witchdoctor did tell him about a root that could help but it was not in season. Even Mr Nyawali admits that the lack of rehabilitation facilities poses a serious problem. According to Father Baxter, the issue has to be addressed nationally. Sitting on the football pitch in Chibolya, Mr Banda explains the reason for smoking his first heroin laced joint of the day. You can't walk, you can't talk'. Unless Lusaka wakes up to its drug addiction, that hit is the only 'help' he will get. Georgina Smith is a freelance journalist based in Zambia. Some names in this article have been changed. BBC Africa podcasts. Focus on Africa magazine. By Georgina Smith. Welcome to the reality of drug abuse in Lusaka. Easing the pain. You can't walk, you can't talk' Unless Lusaka wakes up to its drug addiction, that hit is the only 'help' he will get. Around the BBC.

Zambia struggles with growing drug menace

Lusaka buying blow

Tindor Sikunyongana is trying to run a welding business which these days means buying a diesel generator with costly fuel he can't always afford. Like everyone in Zambia , Sikunyongana is facing a daily struggle to find and afford electricity during a climate-induced energy crisis that's robbed the southern African country of almost all its power. His generator ran out of diesel and spluttered to a halt as he spoke. Zambia's worst electricity blackouts in memory have been caused by a severe drought in the region that has left the critical Kariba dam, the source of Sikunyongana's woes, with insufficient water to run its hydroelectric turbines. Kariba is the largest man-made lake in the world by volume and lies kilometers miles south of Lusaka on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. The massive dam wall was built in the s and more than 80 workers died during construction. It was meant to revolutionize the countries' energy supplies by trapping the water of the Zambezi River, turning a valley into a huge lake and providing an endless supply of renewable hydroelectric power. That's not the case anymore as months of drought brought by the naturally occurring El Nino weather pattern and exacerbated by warming temperatures have put Zambia's hydroelectric station on the brink of completely shutting down for the first time. Often, areas are going without electricity for days. Edla Musonda is so exasperated that she's taken to lugging her entire desktop computer — hard drive, monitor, everything — to a local cafe so she can work. Musonda and others cram into the Mercato Cafe in the Zambian capital of Lusaka, not for the sandwiches or the ambiance but because it has a diesel generator. Tables are cluttered with power strips and cables as people plug in cell phones, laptops and in Musonda's case, a home office. This is the only way her small travel business is going to survive. Less than half of Zambia's 20 million people had access to electricity before Kariba's problems. Millions more have now been forced to adjust as mothers find different ways to cook for their families and children do their homework by candlelight. The most damaging impact is during the daylight hours when small businesses, the backbone of the country, struggle to operate. It's a warning call to the Zambian government and the continent in general about the danger to development of relying heavily on one source of energy that is so climate dependent. The power crisis is a bigger blow to the economy and the battle against poverty than the lockdowns during the COVID pandemic, said Zambia Association of Manufacturers president Ashu Sagar. Africa contributes the least to global warming but is the most vulnerable continent to extreme weather events and climate change as poor countries can't meet the high financials costs of adapting. This year's drought in southern Africa is the worst in decades and has parched crops and left millions hungry, causing Zambia and others to already declare national disasters and ask for aid. The Zambian government has urged people and businesses to embrace solar power. But many Zambians can't afford the technology, while the government itself has turned to more familiar but polluting diesel generators to temporarily power hospitals and other buildings. It has also said it will increase its electricity from coal-fired stations out of necessity. While neighboring Zimbabwe has also lost much of its electricity generation from Kariba and blackouts there are also frequent, it gets a greater share of its power from coal plants. At Kariba, the meter-high feet dam wall is almost completely exposed. A dry, reddish-brown stain near the top marks where the water once reached in better times more than a decade ago. Leonard Siamubotu, who has taken tourists on boat cruises on the picturesque lake for more than 20 years, has seen the change. As the water level dropped, it exposed old, dead trees that were completely submerged for years after the wall was built. The lake's water level naturally rises and recedes according to the season, but generally it should go up by around six meters after the rains. It moved by less than 30 centimeters after the last rainy season barely materialized, authorities said. They hope this year's rains, which should start in November, will be good. But they estimate that it'll still take three good years for Kariba to fully recover its hydroelectric capability. Experts say there's also no guarantee those rains will come and it's dangerous to rely on a changing climate given Zambia has had drought-induced power problems before, and the trend is they are getting worse. ClimateWatch: Africa among the hardest hit by climate change. More from CBS News. Elon Musk, the world's richest man, is making an all-out push to reelect Trump. Many Cubans still waiting for power to return after days of blackout. Thousands of migrants leave southern Mexico for the U. Victims' families remember Nazi ship sunk with prisoners on board. Chrome Safari Continue. Be the first to know. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.

Lusaka buying blow