Ghana’s prisons holding 15, 237 inmates instead of 10,265
Instead of an actual capacity of 10,265, the prisons are holding a total of 15, 237 which means a total of 4972 extra are being squeezed in addition to the original number
Ghana’s prisons are currently described as overcrowded since it is holding far more inmates than the facilities were built for.
Instead of an actual capacity of 10,265, the prisons are holding a total of 15, 237 which means a total of 4972 extra are being squeezed in addition to the original number.
This was disclosed by the Head of Public Relations of the Ghana Prisons Service, Chief Superintendent of Prisons, (CP) Vitalis Ayeh in an interview with Ghanaian Times.
Further to this, he disclosed that a total of 3740 inmates were on remand in Ghana’s prisons by the first half of this year, compared to 3314 for last year around the same period.
Out of the total number of prison inmates, 15, 062 are males while 175 are females.
Additionally, the PRO highlighted some challenges such as transportation service, feeding, and congestion as some of the problems facing Ghana’s prisons and called on the government to increase the feeding allocation of inmates.
Chief Supt. Ayeh revealed that the Prison Service supports inmates through the cultivation of maize, vegetables, etc, and also indicated that lands are being acquired in Western North and Ashanti regions to help deal with the problem of congestion.
Also on rehabilitation and skills training, he said that the Prisons Service provides skills for inmates in the National Vocation Training Institute and at the BECE level.
