Mzimba enrols young offenders on diversion program

Youth Watch Society (YOWSO) on Mzimba district has enrolled on different diversion programs 17 children who violated the law.

The organisation hopes indulging the minor offenders in diversion programs will help to prevent them from committing further offences by seeking to address the underlying factors that contribute to criminal behaviour.

YOWSO Executive Director Muteyo Mukhuta Banda told a   local radio station that the children who have been enrolled on the program are those who committed minor crimes like theft.

Banda said the organisation has enrolled 17 minor offenders on different diversion options such as life skills, a program in which they will undergo counselling sessions aimed at equipping them with information on the consequences of committing an offence and how to prevent one from committing an offence.

YOWSO will also civic educate parents and guardians so that they understand their responsibilities on their children and the relationship that exist between them.

The organisation believes that children who have been enrolled on the program will become productive citizens after completing the program.

According to Banda, once the young offenders complete the diversion programs, their criminal charges will be withdrawn and no criminal records will be maintained.

The diversion programs were introduced to encourage minor offenders to take responsibility for their actions and to provide them with a second chance before they are confronted with a generally punitive and adversarial criminal justice system.