Warrants of 125 remand inmates at Nsawam Prison expired
Instruction No. 171 of the Ghana Police Service Instructions, 2018 requires that all expired Commitment Warrants of short-sentence prisoners who serve their term in Police Stations shall be endorsed by the Station Officer where they were issued.
The warrants of 125 persons remanded at the Medium Security Prisons at Nsawam have expired.
This was part of the findings of the Auditor General and published in its 2021 Annual General Report for Ministries, Departments, and other Agencies.
Instruction No. 171 of the Ghana Police Service Instructions, 2018 requires that all expired Commitment Warrants of short-sentence prisoners who serve their term in Police Stations shall be endorsed by the Station Officer where they were issued. A short note shall be made on the back giving the reason for their detention. The warrants shall then be forwarded directly to the DirectorGeneral of Prisons to enable him/her to see that these expired warrants are returned to the Courts which issued them, and the CID Headquarters shall be informed accordingly.
The Auditor General has therefore recommended that the Director-General of Prisons liaises with the Ghana Police Service to ensure that the expired warrants of suspects are renewed or expedite action on their case for final judgment.
Added to the above, the Auditor General found that the Nsawam Municipal Health Insurance Scheme had not reimbursed the Prisons Service, claims amounting to GH¢263,480.49 for services rendered to inmates and officers between November 2017 and April 2021 contrary to Regulation 38 of the National Health Insurance Regulations, 2004 (L.I. 1809).
The Auditor General has further recommended that the Officer in charge pursues recovery of the outstanding claims from the Municipal Health Insurance Scheme to ensure the smooth and efficient running of the Prisons Hospital.
