Zambia develops national juvenile justice strategy

By James Kunda

LUSAKA, Zambia (AA) - Zambia has developed a national juvenile justice strategy and an action plan for 2022 to 2026 to promote juvenile rights, officials said Thursday.

Vice President Mutale Nalumango said the strategy will help drive a well-coordinated and operational justice system in the best interest of the child who comes into conflict with the law.

“Further, the aim of the strategy is to prevent the child from offending and promote a friendly juvenile justice system which facilitates community-based rehabilitation and re-integration,"
Nalumango said in remarks during the launch of the strategy in the national capital of Lusaka.

She committed her administration’s support to fulfill the broader justice system to ensure that no child was deprived of their liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily.

“The arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child will be used only as a measure of last resort,” she said.

Zambia is also in the process of enacting the Child Code Bill and several other child-related policies to safeguard juvenile rights.

The nation elected a new government in August with new President Hakainde Hichilema pledging to uphold the rule of law to ensure every citizen has equal access to justice.

At the swearing-in ceremony of the new correctional service chairman, Hichilema said his administration had procured mattresses for each of the country’s 23,000 inmates.

Having served 100 days in incarceration as an opposition leader, Hichilema is well aware of the challenges around access to justice and vowed to ensure that no Zambian goes through the mill of unfair treatment at the hands of law enforcement.