By Daimone Siulapwa
The problem of drug trafficking among Zambian women is highly worrying. The numbers of those arrested and jailed, especially outside the country, are astonishing. Almost every month, we hear of this and that Zambian woman being arrested and jailed in some foreign country on charges of drug
trafficking.
Unfortunately, most of these cases are in countries which have strict laws in so far as drug trafficking is concerned. The sentence is sometimes life imprisonment and even mandatory death sentence.
Well, lets us just say the cases are embarrassing, first to the image of the country as a whole, and secondly, to the womenfolk.
What do the women have to say about this?
Women for Change executive director Emily Sikazwe said the continued arrests and increase in the number of women dealing in drug trafficking is very sad. She said the increasing number of women dealing and trafficking in drugs cannot go unaddressed as it keeps recurring.
All sectors of society including the church, political parties, civil society and the people at large therefore need to get involved to arrest the trend. She attributes the increase in the number of cases to poverty but adds that there can still be dignity even in poverty. She further accuses men with resources who do not want to tarnish their image in public of using women as couriers of the substances.
She advised such men to stop using women in their dealings as it is not only affects the women, but their families as well and the countries they are coming from.
Either way, the practice is bad. But what is the real motivation for this? Poverty is too general a reason to cite.
Admittedly, there is a class problem in our society currently. And this is more pronounced among our womenfolk. There is pressure to keep-up with the rest of the elite. So huge is the pressure that these women are willing to do anything in order to keep-up with the rest.
There is pressure to be driving the latest vehicle, like their next door neighbors, pressure to own the most expensive mobile phone, stay in plush neighborhoods and shop from the most expensive boutiques.
Certainly, our womenfolk suffer from complexes. They want to be seen to belong to a high-class society. For instance, for those who take alcohol, they do not want to go to their neighborhoods den, but instead want to go where ‘everyone is going, arcades, Cross roads and the new Manda Hill.
And while there, they do not want to be in a taxi, they want to go there driving, and when it comes to drinks, they will look down on those ladies taking castle or mosi. They would rather go for the ciders. For them, that is what makes them elite.
How sad!
Unfortunately for most of them, this kind of lifestyle is unsustainable. They simply cannot afford it, week-in week-out. With that scenario, they have to find a way of sustaining it. In the meantime, you find that they do not work, and if they do, their pay is not enough to sustain their exaggerated lifestyle. So, they will consider the options before them. Well, others may decide to sleep with their superiors, even when they know that he is married. But if it will bring them a promotion or extra income, then they are willing to do it. For others though, especially those in college and university, they would even sleep with their lecturers. Others though would go extreme, engaging in pornography by way of them sleeping with dogs in exchange for money. Still others will go for the big one, drug trafficking – they would agree to be used as couriers by some rich yet obscure businessman to carry these drugs in exchange for a commission.
Unfortunately, most of them fail to get their commission and are instead, commissioned to the prison authorities for a life under bars. These are the women who claim to go to Dubai, India, China and Brazil for business yet in reality are involved in some illegal activities, all in the name of keeping-up appearances.
So, how do you arrest this situation? Firstly, our women need to get rid of their complexes. There is no need for them to compete. They should accept their socio-economic status and only work hard to improve it. There is no need to sleep with their boss or with a dog.
This is more demeaning than drinking your mosi and castle at the local shebeen or shopping from the sprawling Soweto.
Hopefully, our women are learning something from their colleagues, some of whom may die in foreign prison cells.
