12 Chikurubi Farm Prison Under the command of Superintendent Mutongi, a farm manager oversees dairy animals and piggery which provide food for inmates of Zimbabwe prisons. Unlike the prisons at Chikurubi and in Harare, Kadoma Prison was built after the independence of Zimbabwe. With 122 hectares of arable land reduced under cultivation, farming is the main activity at this prison. It also has a dairy of 70. The excess produce of the farm is made available to other prisons. Maize is the main crop grown here, but an orchard and a vegetable garden make a balance diet attainable. Grass on the compound of government institutions is cleared by the inmates. Young Offenders and Juveniles Young Offenders (18-25 years old) who are sentenced to 3 or more years of imprisonment are sent to a prison at Gweriu called "Whawha Prison" where they are trained in skills such as welding, carpentry and mechanics. They are also encouraged to take the "0" and "A" Levels examination with the assistance of "teacher-prisoners." In Zimbabwe, juveniles are under the jurisdiction of the Social Welfare Department. Within this Department, a Deputy Director is responsible for child welfare. The Department has facilities for detention of juveniles before trial. Juveniles may appear before both criminal and juvenile courts, but in the case of the former the hearing may be without the public. After trial juveniles are placed either in homes or reformatory. There are 8 government homes which accept the care of children while NGOs and Churches have 40. The latter are concentrated in the urban areas. Each of the 10 administrative provinces has-at least one home. There are about 3,000 juveniles in all the institutions. If a child under 18 is arrested the Police refer the case to the Department of Social Welfare for investigation and custody when necessary. Reports on the child compiled by the Depa anent help the court to decide on an appropriate sentence for him/her. The 200 officers of the Department throughout the country are all Probation Officers. The release of the child to the parents may 13 be recommended by the Department; and whenever appropriate, the Department gets involved with the parents in the supervision of the child. One of the recommendations may be the caning of the child. Juveniles are detained for a maximum of 3 years during which they will be educated. Those who are beyond the control of social workers are kept in a juvenile wing of prisons. Such must have been the case of 7 convicted juveniles who were at Kadoma Prison. Community service currently in operation in Zimbabwe has not been extended to cover juveniles, although the Social Welfare Department is involved in the community service with magistrates. Community based care of children has been tried in Zimbabwe. 11,000 children have been identified within this context as requiring care. A prominent category among them are orphans. In a district in Maswingo Province the Department of Social Welfare tried to revive the community's interest in looking after children in need. Community Service Concern about overcrowding in prisons resulted in the resort to community service. It started in 1994, and a success rate of 90% is claimed, and the scheme is catching on. Opening the High Court Session in February 1997, Chidyausiku J. exhorted judges to impose non-custodial sentence as far as possible (Sunday Mail, 22 February 1997). A National Committee on Community Service, first constituted in 1992 by the Minister of Justice, originally had representatives from a number of ministries. Presently, it consists of a High Court Judge, the Commissioner of Prisons, a representative of ODA, Chief Magistrate of the biggest Magisterial district, and representatives from the Ministry of Social Welfare, the Police and nongovernmental organisations such as Prison Fellowship, Zimbabwe Association for Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation of the Offender (ZACRO) and Legal Resource Foundation. The National Committee on Community Service meets once a month on the last Thursday of the month.