Mother of Zimbabwe gambler upset because he botched suicide attempt

Peter Amsel
March 26, 2011
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zimbabwe-gambler-mother-suicideThe Channel Island of Guernsey has long been home to a thriving online gambling sector. Even the Tote hopes to end up there someday. But Guernsey’s also mindful of those who have trouble setting limits on their gambling habit. The new Guernsey Alcohol & Drug Abuse Council (GADAC) is expanding its repertoire to provide counseling to the island’s problem gamblers, free of charge, as part of the Bailiwick Drug and Alcohol Strategy.

Sadly, GADAC’s services were not available to Nokudakwashe Mationa, a 25-year-old gambler from Harare. After decades of chaotic rule under president/despot Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s depleted social services can barely supply its residents with clean drinking water, let alone counsel problem gamblers. So, following an argument with his mother over his gambling debts, Nokudakwashe decided the only way out was to drink some rat poison. He was later found lying in Harare Gardens, alive, but in a ‘very grave state.’ Zimbabwe Metro reported that Nokudakwashe was taken to a local hospital, but his condition was unknown at press time.

The rub comes when authorities informed Nokudakwashe’s mother Amai where her son was and how he got there, and her response was annoyance that her son had botched the job. “It is better that he dies,” she allegedly told the authorities. “He is a gambler and I have no mercy for him … I have tried to counsel him as a mother but all my efforts yielded nothing … Let him die! I have suffered enough at the hands of this child.”

We don’t really know how to follow that, except to remind our UK readers that Mothering Sunday is April 3. For North Americans, Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 8. Perhaps this should be the year you find a better way of showing your appreciation than snagging a drugstore box of chocolates on your way over to mum’s house, hmm?

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Tags: Article, Guernsey, problem gambling, zimbabwe
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