The Chairman of the Prisons Council, Pastor Stephen Wengam has raised concerns that the various prisons are likely to start rejecting convicted persons because the facilities are almost full.
This situation he said if not checked, could adversely affect Ghana’s reformation and rehabilitation system.
“A portion of the constitution gives the prison council the power, with very good reasons, to reject prisoners. If people don’t come to our aid, one of these days, you will hear that the court convicted some people and they got to the prison and we said, no they can’t be here because there are no more space. You can imagine what will happen,” Pastor Wengam lamented.
[contextly_sidebar id=”P3ubN1UIPUe0syVpcLEKFWRd8ZUqdM4x”]Ghana has 43 prison facilities and according to a 2014 report, 28 are said to be overcrowded by as much as 358%.
Pastor Wengam disclosed this on the Citi Breakfast Show on Monday ahead of a fund raising for the Prisons service dubbed “Project Efiase” to help the service improve on its facilities.
According to Pastor Wengam about 80% of the service’s meager budgetary allocation goes into feeding, while “only 20% is used for administrative expenses, buying uniforms, paying utilities, taking care of their [prisoners] medication.”
GH¢ 20 million needed annually
He said, on going forward, the Prison service “needs about GH¢20 million every year for ten years to be able to turn our prisons into centres of excellence.”
“We have allowed the prisons to deteriorate for many years and that’s why we need so much money. What can hasten the process is that if corporate Ghana – companies can decide to adopt some of the prisons and say we are adopting a particular prison, say Akuse prison, and commit resources every year to equip it with some tools, I think that wouldn’t need 10 years to complete the agenda.”
GH¢100 is a luxury for prison service
“Sometimes when I get to the headquarters and we need about GH¢200 or even GH¢100, to do something, its very difficult because it is not there. Initially I used to think that we were exaggerating but when they brought the books to me and I saw it, I realized that we’ve been surviving by miracle.”
Pastor Wengam further said the “notion that the prison must be a place of punishment belongs to the colonial days because if we don’t reform them and they come out, they pose a threat to us.”
In a related development, the Interior Minister, Mark Wayongo in October last year said government has secured a £500, 000 loan to help decongest prisons across the country.
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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana