By Byron Mutingwende
Cognisant of the drug abuse problem rampant among street children, millionaire Sekuru Banda has entered into a partnership with boxing legend Mosquito Alphonso Zvenyika.
The partnership seeks to keep the young people busy through learning boxing so that they would find an occupation and leave the streets in which drug abuse is common.
“Recently, we donated money towards the establishment of a half-a-million United States dollars drug rehabilitation centre. While construction is yet to start, we found it worthwhile to target a place where children are being taught some life skills. In my quest to identify suitable institutions, I selected Alphonso Zvenyika’s Boxing Academy in Mbare.
“Through our discussions, I made a decision to support the academy. On 2 April 2019, as part of the partnership, I supplied groceries to the academy. I have pledged to buy the academy its training kit comprising gym equipment, punching bags, gloves as well as to build them a suitable state-of-the-art boxing ground,” Sekuru Banda said.
In his speech while accepting the donation, Alphonso Zvenyika heartily thanked Sekuru Banda for his kind gesture.
“Boxing is regarded by many as an elite sport so we always struggle in finding partners or sponsors at our academy. I was thrilled when Sekuru Banda initially phoned me to say he wanted to partner with us. At first, I thought it was a joke or one of the empty promises that always come from prominent in society. Little did I know that Sekuru Banda was actually serious. Today, he phoned me early in the morning to say that he would be visiting us.
“He brought with him an assortment of groceries including maize meal, cooking oil, sugar, Mazoe and salt, just to mention a few. The groceries will go a long way in addressing our challenges with food to feed the children we train at the academy,” Zvenyika said.
Sekuru Banda said the gesture was just a drop in the ocean compared to what he is going to do to the academy as outlined earlier.
Sekuru Banda is a well-known philanthropist whose footprint include helping source some sunscreen lotions for people with albinism, donating to cholera victims in Budiriro and Glenview as well as those affected by Cyclone Idai in Manicaland.