The items include toiletries, cooking oil, bags of rice and sachet water valued at GH₵3,500.00, was aimed at putting smiles on the faces of the inmates who may not have the opportunity to celebrate the Christmas festivities in the open.

Michael Paapa Marcus Edwards, the Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation, in his presentation speech said as part of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility, it was important to prioritize the donation to the less privileged in society, as a way of putting smiles on the faces of the needy and less privileged in the society.

“It is in this vein that the company decided to restore hope in the lives of inmates of this prison since anyone can be a potential victim of such tragic conditions”, he emphasized.

Mr. Marcus Edwards made a passionate appeal to the government to provide the necessary conditions and facilities at the country’s prisons to facilitate the holistic transformation and reformation of inmates to make them productive to society after serving their prison terms.

The Chaplain of the Prisons, ASP Rev. Gideon Ndebugri, who received the items on behalf of the inmates, expressed gratitude to the Foundation for the gesture, and appealed to more donors to come to their aid as managing the facility was becoming difficult due to the increasing number of inmates.

He encouraged Ghanaians to show more commitment and concern about inmates and managers of the country’s prisons, and assured of management’s resolve to help inmates successfully undergo their reformation period so they can fully reintegrate into society.

Some inmates expressed their gratitude to the foundation for the gesture, and appealed to the general public to come to their aid as conditions in the prisons were not the best to reform them.

This is the fourth time Bra Dea Foundation has extended love to the less privileged in society this festivity after donations to Compassion is in Love Action Orphanage at Yawhima, Ayakomaso Primary school, and Disabled Family at Area 2, all in Sunyani.

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By: Mashoud Kombat/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post BRA DEA Foundation donates to Sunyani Prisons appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Prisons in the Brong-Ahafo and Northern regions are among those advised to be on guard.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Swxdgl4LYuTTPFwlRRd0p8y53t3wC4nl”]The Public Relations Officer of the Prisons Service, SP Vitalis Aye, told Citi News that the alert was issued to avert a meningitis disaster  considering that the infection emerges and spreads fast during the harmattan season.

He however said the service is taking steps to reduce incidents of the disease should they record any in the prisons.

Congestion and heat are some of the major factors that trigger meningitis.

“We issued an alert that around this time of the year, these things do happen. We have always put measures in place to make sure that though we are overcrowded, we minimize the rate of people getting infected or having a disaster,” he said.

“We ensure that those who visit as much as possible, physical contact is minimized. Again, we create isolation cells, if you are coming to the prisons for the first time, we put you there, we isolate you, we observe you before you are put in the main prison.  Those who are already inside the prisons, if they are showing signs that are not normal, they are isolated. We go through these protocols to ensure that we don’t have an outbreak, and even if it is there, it is minimized,” he added.

There have been about six deaths resulting from meningitis in the country in the last one month, but these incidents are being considered as isolated.

A student of Damongo Senior High School in the West Gonja District of the Northern Region, three weeks ago died of non-communicable meningitis. Another student from Koforidua Technical School, also died from the disease.

Three deaths were recorded in three Senior High Schools in the Upper East Region, and another at Asamankese SHS in the Eastern Region.

No meningitis outbreak in Ghana

Meanwhile, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has refuted claims that there is a meningitis outbreak in the country.

According to the Service, the deaths of some students from meningitis in recent weeks are isolated cases that do not constitute an outbreak.

The Director for Public Health at the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Badu Sarkodie said in a Citi News that “for meningitis, we have not reached the situation to apply the vaccine. We have the vaccine, but to give it, we have to declare an outbreak first. There is a criterion for outbreak declaration and we haven’t reached there yet.”

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Prisons Service on high alert over meningitis scare appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Currently, the service is in arrears for 11 months of the year 2016 of prisoners ration bills of over GH¢9.596 million, a medical bill of GH¢3.173 million, and utilities GH¢12.885 million in addition to other debts.

The Chief Budget Officer of the Ghana Prisons Service, Supt. George Ankamah, made this known at the Ministry of the Interior 2017 mid-year review meeting in Accra on Thursday.

Superintendent Ankamah said the current feeding fee of GH¢1.80 per prisoner a day is woefully inadequate.

“We anticipate that the 11 months of prisoners ration bills in arrears would be released before the end of the year and the budgetary releases would be increased substantially to meet the needs of the service in order to enable it execute its mandate efficiently.”

The Director said the Service intends to modernize its agriculture sector to supplement government budgetary provision.

He said the service would be a pursuing strategic rebranding policy in order to give the service a positive image by running efficient industry programmes to enhance skill training in order to help reform and rehabilitate them.

“The Service will embark on vigorous capacity building programmes for categories of staff to enable them cope with modern trends in correction management. It also intends to commit more funding to the welfare needs of inmates to conform to the United Nations Minimum Standards for the treatment of prisoners,” he said.

He revealed that the Service has also received a commencement certificate of GH¢200,000 for the procurement of multi-purpose photocopying machines and building materials for the continuation of its headquarters extension project.

In the bid to decongest the Prisons, Superintendent Ankamah said the service has submitted a non-custodial sentencing Bill to Parliament.

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Source: GNA

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Gunshots were heard from the Court premises after a proceeding that saw some convicts receiving additional years to their initial sentence of 120 years.

[contextly_sidebar id=”35QEavOYR0SychTjJQ3vftIBSFrLaFjh”]Some had suggested that the shots were fired by some unknown persons who had stormed the court to free the convicts, but according to Mr. Vitalis Aiyeh, that is untrue.

“It is true that there was an incident at the Tema court but it was to check security. 5 prisoners were sent from the Nsawam prison to court. 3 have already been handed a sentence and 2 were standing trial. But they were given an additional sentence of 20 years and that didn’t go well with 4 of the prisoners against one, and that brought some confusion and we had to maintain order by giving warning shots.”

“There was a crowd massing in so in order to secure the inmates, the prison officer had to fire the shots… If you have people serving over 100 years, the most important thing was to ensure their security,” Mr Aiyeh said on Eyewitness News.

He said the convicts, who are in jail for armed robbery, are currently safe in the custody of the Prisons Service at the Nsawam Prisons.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Tema court shooting was to maintain order – Prisons Service appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.