By Petro Mkandawire & Mada Ziba
Mangochi, June 22, Mana; Koche Police Unit in Mangochi have released children who were arrested for allegedly stealing chairs and cartons of condoms from Community Initiative for Self-Reliance (CISER) warehouse at Maldeco Trading Centre in Mangochi.
According to Executive Director for CISER, Joseph Makwakwa, the children, all boys aged between nine and 12 were arrested on Monday for allegedly stealing the items whose value was yet to be estimated.
“We realised that our warehouse had been broken into on Monday morning this week upon reporting for duties and later in the evening the same day, our guards heard voices from the warehouse around 5:00 pm and when we entered the warehouse we found the boys in the warehouse,” he said.
Makwakwa added that, “Of course, the warehouse has burglar bars but the children were small enough to get through spaces between the bars.”
He said that the boys disclosed that they were sent to steal but were reluctant to reveal the names of those behind the syndicate, adding that this was not the first theft in their premises.
“Previously, a laptop was stolen from our office but it was difficult to establish who did it since there were no signs indicating that there was a break-in,” the Director said.
Meanwhile, Mangochi Police admitted the occurrence of the incident but refused to comment on the matter on the basis that the issue involved minors who needed protection according to the law.
 warehouse at Maldeco Trading Centre in Mangochi.){kind=link}