Famous Rwandan television/radio host Tijara Kabendera has joined hands with Police and the Ministry for Youth and ICT to fight drug abuse.

The campaign, under her new initiative, Tijara Kabendera Foundation Against Drug Abuse (TKFADA), was launched early this month. 

The 38-year-old and mother-of-four wants to use her position as a journalist to sensitise people, particularly the youth, about the harmful effects of consuming illegal drugs.

"We want to help people understand the dangers of abusing drugs. We know they have heard this several times but the primary goal is to consistently keep an eye on them, be with them always, and give them counseling and mentorship lessons,” she noted.

Kabendera explained that this will be done through visiting schools and holding awareness campaigns, among other things.

"We have teamed up with the Rwanda National Police and the Ministry of Youth and ICT and we want to specifically reach out to the young people in schools, establish anti-drugs clubs where they are not and start weekly programmes where students shall be meeting and sharing experiences,” she added.

She also noted that there are many artistes who have failed to succeed in the industry due to drug and alcohol addiction. 

"I have seen many of our artistes whose lives have turned out to be a mess because of drug abuse, and you realise that the young people take them as their role models. We want to guide the youth on who’s a good idol and which kind of person they should look up to,” she said.

According to Kabendera, so far, TKFADA has reached out to different secondary schools like Kagarama Secondary School, G.S A.I.P.E.R Nyandungu, and Apace Secondary School.

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