Decongesting our prisons
Following many appeals to government to put in place measures to decongest the Prisons in Ghana, President John Dramani Mahama has announced a remission programme for prisoners to ease congestion.
During his recent visit to the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons, the President said he had asked the Director General of Prisons to present to his office proposals for remission of sentence based on good behavior and serious health conditions.
The President also announced immediate plans by the Government to raise money to build two new blocks at Nsawam to ease the congestion. Many individuals and organisations have also called for non-custodial sentences to be introduced in the country to decongest the prisons. It is a known fact that the risk of death in prison remains high as a result of excessive congestion, poor ventilation and the harsh prison conditions which weighed heavily on a number of inmates.
According to reports, the medium security prisons, which was designed to hold 851 prisoners, currently has 3, 514 inmates occupying the same space, representing over 400 per cent increase.
The Catholic Standard is happy that President Mahama has launched the “Afiase” project by the Ghana Prisons Service to raise funds to improve conditions in the country’s prisons. The project seeks to change the inhumane conditions that currently persist at our overcrowded prisons and to make some reforms to make them fit for human habitation.
It is sad that the prisons which are meant to be correctional or reformation homes, have now turned into death traps, claiming the lives of many energetic young men and women. There is the need to make available at the prisons health centres to address the health needs of the inmates because like all Ghanaians, prisoners have equal rights to health.
The Catholic Standard calls for support from organisations and well-meaning Ghanaians for the ‘Afiase’ project to raise the standards of our prisons since it could be everyone’s second home. While applauding the President for his commitment to improving the conditions at the medium security prisons, we remind our President that the situation pertains not only at Nsawam but in other prisons, hence the need to refurbish all the prisons in the country.
This Paper calls for complete refurbishment of the prisons including the schools and vocational training centres which have become dysfunctional to befit their status as correctional institutions. It is our hope that the ‘Afiase’ project and the President’s promise of improved prisons conditions will not just be a talk but actions would be taken towards the reformation of prisoners.
The action should be now.
During his recent visit to the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons, the President said he had asked the Director General of Prisons to present to his office proposals for remission of sentence based on good behavior and serious health conditions.
The President also announced immediate plans by the Government to raise money to build two new blocks at Nsawam to ease the congestion. Many individuals and organisations have also called for non-custodial sentences to be introduced in the country to decongest the prisons. It is a known fact that the risk of death in prison remains high as a result of excessive congestion, poor ventilation and the harsh prison conditions which weighed heavily on a number of inmates.
According to reports, the medium security prisons, which was designed to hold 851 prisoners, currently has 3, 514 inmates occupying the same space, representing over 400 per cent increase.
The Catholic Standard is happy that President Mahama has launched the “Afiase” project by the Ghana Prisons Service to raise funds to improve conditions in the country’s prisons. The project seeks to change the inhumane conditions that currently persist at our overcrowded prisons and to make some reforms to make them fit for human habitation.
It is sad that the prisons which are meant to be correctional or reformation homes, have now turned into death traps, claiming the lives of many energetic young men and women. There is the need to make available at the prisons health centres to address the health needs of the inmates because like all Ghanaians, prisoners have equal rights to health.
The Catholic Standard calls for support from organisations and well-meaning Ghanaians for the ‘Afiase’ project to raise the standards of our prisons since it could be everyone’s second home. While applauding the President for his commitment to improving the conditions at the medium security prisons, we remind our President that the situation pertains not only at Nsawam but in other prisons, hence the need to refurbish all the prisons in the country.
This Paper calls for complete refurbishment of the prisons including the schools and vocational training centres which have become dysfunctional to befit their status as correctional institutions. It is our hope that the ‘Afiase’ project and the President’s promise of improved prisons conditions will not just be a talk but actions would be taken towards the reformation of prisoners.
The action should be now.