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Tag: Prison

  • Prisoners have high risk of coronavirus infections POS Foundation

    Prisoners in the country could easily be infected with the COVID-19 if overcrowding in the cells is not addressed, says the Perfecter of Sentiments (POS) Foundation, facilitators of the Justice for All Programme.

    The Foundation regretted what it described as worsened congestion of inmates in prisons across the country, and called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to grant pardon under Article 72 of the 1992 Fourth Republican Constitution.

    It is also proposing exclusion of Convicted Non-Violent Drug Users (not Trade/traffickers) serving below 10 years from the old PNDC Law 236 which enforces, controls, and sanctions offences relating to narcotics.

    Mr. Jonathan Osei Owusu, the Executive Director, POS Foundation, called on the Ministry of Interior to speed up processes for the passage of the Community Service Bill, which seeks to give offenders chances for reformation, instead of incarceration.

    He made the call when the Foundation presented Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other items worth GH¢39, 000.00 and a cheque of GH¢2, 000.00 to the Sunyani Central Prisons.

    Some of the items included Vitamin C, thermometer gun, veronica Buckets, automated hand washing machine, liquid soaps, bins, tissue, gloves, and food items would be supplied to the Duayaw-Nkwanta and Kenyase Prisons Camp in the Ahafo Region.

    Mr. Owusu indicated that it would be suicidal if the COVID-19 hit the various prisons in the country due to the overcrowding of inmates in cells, saying, instead of the 815 designed capacity, the Nsawam prisons currently contained 3,305 inmates.

    The Kumasi Central Prisons were also designed to accommodate only 800 inmates, but currently, the cells have more than 1,880 inmates.

    “There is nothing like social distancing in the prisons”, a situation he observed places the life of prison wardens and inmates in danger.

    This, he explained, was the reason why the POS and its funding Agencies- German Development Cooperation (GIZ) and Open Society for West Africa (OSIWA) was undertaking COVID-19 Response Prisons Outreach Project in the country.

    Under the project, the implementers would donate several PPE to Prisons and support them with cotton materials to produce one million nose masks to protect personnel of the Ghana Prison Service (GPS).

    The project engages prison inmates in tailoring and dressmaking to sew the nose masks.

    Deputy Director of Prisons (DDP) Kwasi Asamoah Fenning, the Bono, Bono East, and Ahafo Regions Commander of the GPS said overcrowding was also a major problem in the prisons, saying, the prison was built in 1960 and instead of 350 inmate capacity, it now has 866 inmates.

    He thanked the Foundation for the support and appealed to other corporate organisations to emulate the patriotic gesture.

    Source: GNA

  • Coronavirus: CCF supports Prisons Service with mattresses for inmates

    The Management of Crime Check Foundation (CCF) together with its partners and donors have presented 100 pieces of student mattresses to the Ghana Prison Service.

    The donation, which is worth GHC 12,000 is in response to the distress call of the Prisons Service to support inmates with some mattresses.

    Mr Ibrahim Oppong Kwarteng, the Executive Director of CCF presenting the mattresses the donation was in response to the call by the Director General to support the Service with some mattresses for inmates.

    He said the Management thought it prudent to talk to donors of our Foundation to quickly come to the aid of the Ghana Prisons Service, hence, the presentation.

    He said the mattresses were to help the inmates in prisons especially at this crucial time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    He said “we know that in order for the Service to carry out its mandate of reformation and rehabilitation agenda, it is the responsibility of all Ghanaians to support them.”

    He said no government was able to adequately cater for the needs of the Prison Service over the years and the presentation was the contributions from the Foundation’s donors and partners.

    “We hope that other well-meaning Ghanaians will also follow suit,” he added. He said the welfare of inmates should not be ignored especially in this COVID-19 period and for the Prisons Service to effectively execute its mandate, it must be adequately equipped.

    Mr Kwarteng, who is also the Ambassador Extraordinaire of Ghana Prisons appealed to all Ghanaians globally to help support the Prisons Service. “They need sanitizers and other PPE and this is not the time we should turn our back to them, but rather fulfill our Goldy responsibility, which is enshrined in both the Bible, Quran and all other religious books on the need to go the aid of prisoners,” he said.

    Mr Kwarteng assured the Service of the Foundation’s continuous support to the Prisons.

    The Director of Prisons in Charge of Welfare, Mr Leopold Kwame Amoah Ansah, who received the mattresses expressed gratitude to the Management of CCF for responding to their call for support.

    He said the presentation was timely as it would help improve and bridge the gap, where most inmates had to sleep on bare floor because of lack of space and mattresses.

    He appealed to corporate bodies to assist the Service to improve its service delivery and called on government to increase the feeding fee of inmates. “I add my voice to corporate Ghana and indeed organizations, which are interested in corrections to come on board and assist the Service,” he added. He said in addition to the PPE, the Service would need nutritious meals for inmates to boost their immune system.

    The DOP said the few medical infirmaries the Service had would need support to renovate and refurbish and appealed to government to increase the feeding rate of inmates.

    CCF has been instrumental in facilitating the execution of the reformation and rehabilitation mandate of the Ghana Prisons Service through its support programmes that seek to improve the welfare of prison inmates.

    Source: GNA

  • Nsawam Prison Clinic desperately needs gun thermometers

    DSP Adamu Abdul Latif, Public Relations Officer of the Nsawam Prisons, has called on benevolent organisations and individuals to assist the Nsawam Prison Clinic with gun thermometers to help detect and prevent the spread of COVID-19.

    He said the Clinic was in dire need of the thermal infrared thermometers as it would help to detect, isolate and prevent possible cases of COVID-19.

    DSP Latif made the call when the BESSTEL Foundation and Ghana-UK Mental Health Alliance donated some equipment, including gun thermometres, to the Prison Clinic.

    He said due to confinement, inmates could not practise social distancing adding that the overcrowding had further heightened the risk level at the facility.

    He said the lack of the gadget was hampering efforts by the Clinic to detect symptoms of the virus and ensure the safety of officers and inmates.

    DSP Latif said the prison population now is more than the capacity of the facility.

    “This prison was built to house somewhere around 800 inmates but as it stands today we have about 3,500 inmates in custody, which makes this issue of social distancing very difficult to achieve behind the prison walls.”

    DSP Latif, however, said Management was doing all it could to protect the inmates from the infection.

    “One of the ways we are doing that is to screen whoever that comes into contact with the prison. And it is in this direction that we are in desperate need of the thermal guns.”

    As the virus was transmitted by close contact with infected persons, facilities like the Prison remained a high-risk location for the infection, he said.

    Source: GNA

  • Coronavirus: Sekondi Central Prison appeals for fumigation materials

    The Sekondi Central Prison is in dire need of fumigation materials to sanitise its premises against any infection, particularly during this COVID-19 pandemic.

    The Prison currently houses more than 800 inmates in its Male and Female cells.

    DSP Samuel Amarfio, the Regional Operations officer of the Prison, told the Ghana News Agency that fumigating the premises had become a priority in these abnormal times.

    He, therefore, called on benevolent institutions to go to their aid with fumigation machines and chemicals adding; “We can even use the inmates to carry out the task should we have all the equipment needed for the exercise.”

    “Overcrowding is a major problem in many of the country’s cells and with the outbreak of the deadly COVID-19 much is needed to curb the situation”.

    Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo has announced an amnesty package for some 800 inmates to save the prisons of congestion.

     

    Source: GNA

  • Prisons Service starts release of 808 prisoners on amnesty

    The Ghana Prisons Service has activated the process for the release of the 808 prisoners who have been granted amnesty by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

    “The list has gone to the stations and they are doing the documentation and then release them,” the Chief Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Prisons Service, Mr Courage Atsem, told the Daily Graphic in Accra.

    Although he could not give figures, he said his “checks are that all those granted amnesty at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison have been released”.

    He said the release of the prisoners depended on when the documentation would be completed.

    “It depends on how far the officer in charge and his team are able to do the documentation for the release, but I believe that by now a lot of them have gone out,” the PRO stated.

    The amnesty

    On Thursday, March 26, 2020, President Akufo-Addo granted official pardon to 808 prisoners based on the recommendation of the Prisons Service Council and in consultation with the Council of State.

    A statement issued by the Director-General of Prisons, Mr Patrick Darko Missah, explained that the list included 783 first-time offenders who had served half of their sentences, 11 seriously ill prisoners and three aged (very old) prisoners.

    The others were seven prisoners on death row whose sentences have been commuted to life imprisonment and four prisoners serving life sentences whose sentences have been commuted to 20-year definite terms.

    Process

    Explaining the process for the release of prisoners granted official pardon by the President, Supt. Atsem said: “When the President comes with the list of inmates who have been granted amnesty, the Prisons Headquarters submits the list to the various stations for them to implement the amnesty.”

    “The stations have to check their records to be sure that they are releasing the right people,” he added.

    Details

    Providing further details of the amnesty, the PRO said those whose life sentences had been commuted to 20 years would have their 20-year sentences take effect from the time the amnesty was granted.

    “It means they will now start afresh,” he said.

    He said per the law, for one to qualify for amnesty from death row to a life sentence, that person might have done at least 10 years on death row.

    Source: graphic.com.gh

  • Shortage of drugs hits Koforidua Prisons

    There is a shortage of drugs in the infirmary of Koforidua Prison affecting the delivery of medical care and treatment services to the inmates.

    This was made known when the Medical Team of Pentecost International Worship Center (PIWC)-Koforidua, visited the Prison to provide health screening services to the inmates.

    The medical team donated few drugs available to stock the infirmary on the plea of the Prison officers.

    Elder Frederick Darfur, a Pharmacist and Presiding Elder of PIWC -Koforidua who led the medical team said the situation is worrying given that most of the inmates reported cases of various skin rashes.

    He said the overcrowded condition at the Prison is a serious health concern hence said the initiative of the church of Pentecost building Modern Prison facilities in parts of the country is therefore timely.

    Source: kasapafmonline.com

  • Kumasi Prisons to take 1,300 more inmates

    Kumasi Central Prisons has deepened over the last couple of years, it has been disclosed.

    The penitentiary has the capacity to accommodate maximum of 700 inmates but sadly the number of prisoners in the facility now is close to 2,000.

    Read: Government must prioritize healthcare of prisoners Medical Association

    This unpleasant figure, therefore, means that an excess of about 1,300 inmates are currently serving their sentences in the old-looking penitentiary, located at Adum.

    The congestion woes in the prison is said to be having adverse effects on the health of the inmates, who usually are inflicted with skin diseases and other problems.

    Robert T. Tetteh, Senior Chief Officer of the Kumasi Prisons said the number of inmates would have hit 3,000 by now but for a transfer exercise they carried out recently.

    “On the average, we receive 30 inmates on a daily basis and the number of inmates was getting to 3,000, which was too much, so we decided to transfer some of them.”

    The prisons officer said transferring some prisoners to other prisons, helped to decongest the Kumasi prisons, but he stated that more was needed to be done at the prison.

    According to him, the excess numbers in the Kumasi Prisons was impacting negatively in the management of the place so he called for more decongestion exercise.

    Read: Government working to improve healthcare in prisons Bawumia

    Mr. Tetteh mentioned attempts to smuggle narcotic drugs to inmates by some people, as one of the challenges facing the prisons, saying “we always arrest such people”.

    According to him, it is the firm policy of the prisons that all food items that are sent to inmates are thoroughly searched so that any illegal item could be detected.

    The journalists were in the prisons as part of a seminar organised for them by African Heights Foundation. The event was funded by Open Society for West Africa (OSIWA).

     

    Source: Dailyguidenetwork.com