YOUTH AND CRIME IN AFRICA

    Youth and Crime in Africa has been at an ongoing rate for a long time now. Even with the laws that have been set up to govern different states, the statistics of youth crime are not reduced much. The crime rate is especially high among the youth (individuals between 15 and 30). Many laws have been set up to guide Africans, many of which are stated in each country’s penal code. Some of these include laws against treason, offences relating with foreign states, corruption, and offences against morality (including rape, assault, and defilement), murder and many others; all of which can be found in the penal code.
Sometimes though the laws that govern individuals are not known by people and therefore lead to the arrest of many. Therefore I believe leaders should find ways in which the laws governing the state are made known to the citizens. In most countries the Penal code is available for the mass people in form of a booklet but few tend to know this. Governments should publicize this so people are aware of it.
In Africa though, due to many factors like unemployment, poverty and misfortune many individuals have no choice but to turn to the law. John Doe grew up in Jinja in a loving but poor household and on the death of his parents in a car accident, he was taken to live with his aunt. His aunt however saw John as a burden and so treated him almost like an animal. Due to this, he decided to live his aunt’s household and at least find sanctuary on the streets of Kampala. So one morning as the aunt went to work, John quickly went to the small pot his aunt kept money and stole 10,000shs which he believed was enough to transport him to Kampala. On reaching Kampala reality hit John and so he inevitably became a street boy. This forced him to join a wrong crime-oriented gang. They committed petty crimes like stealing phones, selling drugs and others. One day John was caught stealing and was beaten up severely. Luckily, police officers were able to rescue him, before the mob finished him off. While in prison, John got to know a councilor who convinced him that he is able to change his life. After serving his sentence John was released and with the help of the councilor joined a vocational school. He did Carpentry and now owns his own carpentry shop and is making ends meet as a good citizen.
   Different organizations have come up to try and offer rehabilitation services across Africa. The main aim of these NGO’s is to offer counseling, advice and skills to people who are trying to make use of their lives after being in prison. Some of these NGO’s are even able to offer employment to these people in various mediocre businesses. Many of them, though, for example Remake Women Uganda offer vocational skills to these individuals which in turn can be used to better their lives. 
The rehabilitation process for young criminals refers to the restoration of their lives back to normal, through education and therapy. The assumption of rehabilitation is that people are not permanently criminals, and that is it possible to restore a criminal life to a useful life in which they can contribute to the society. The main goal of rehabilitation is to prevent repeat offenders. 
This theory of punishment is based on the notion that punishment is to be inflicted on an offender so as to reform him/her, or rehabilitate them so as to make their re-integration into society easier.             Punishments include community service, probation orders, and any form of punishment which entails any form of guidance and aftercare towards the offender.
  There is no sound scientific research to determine how different individuals react to the same rehabilitating methods, since different individuals have different psychological backgrounds. But the most active one involves psychotherapy; which may be in form of counseling. This method allows the criminal to understand what wrong they have done, and so allows them to learn from their mistakes although for some people there is no cure or treatment for the level of psychosis they are at. But this does not stop different people from trying, for at least some eventually turn their lives around.
In many situations people are put into positions where they may have to defend themselves which may lead to murder or bodily harm on another. During such a situation one may be scared but the best thing to do is call the authority so as to plead your case and do the right thing. If you decide to escape then you will seem extremely guilty which can worsen your chances when standing before the officials since the punishment has higher chances of being more severe.
In order to report a crime, different countries have different hotlines to contact, for example in Uganda for example 999 and 112 are the best numbers to call in case of an emergency, but it is also safe to have at least a phone number of a police officer around your area especially in cases of domestic disturbances. Then in case of a bomb scare or threat. The youth are most susceptible to crime in Uganda and the rest of the world, but then again it is we the youth responsible for upholding the values and norms of society and are the leaders and peacemakers of tomorrow. It is our responsibility to prevent, fight and abolish crime in our societies, so get to it!