Pentecost Int’l Worship Centre helps Sunyani Prison

In a bid to help address the challenge of shortage of drugs at the Sunyani Central Prison Infirmary, the Pentecost International Worship Centre (PIWC) in Sunyani in the Brong-Ahafo Region has presented assorted first aid medicines to inmates of the prison.

Medicines

The medicines were valued at GH¢2,457.

At the presentation, the Resident Pastor of the PIWC, Rev. Clement Achim-Gyimah, said it had become the church's tradition of donating to the prisons from time to time.

According to him, over the few years, the church had donated foodstuffs, medicated soap, clothing and medicines to the inmates at the facility.

Rev. Achim-Gyimah pledged the church’s continual support to the prison and encouraged all believers to join the mission of donating to prisons in the country.

He expressed the hope that the inmates would be touched through the donation and transform their lives to enable them to become useful to themselves and the society in future.

 Superintendent Esther Kofitse, who received the medicines on behalf of the inmates, expressed her profound gratitude to the PIWC for its gesture.

She said the donation had come at the time the clinic was in dire need of medicines and called other governmental and non-governmental organisations to come to the aid of the prisons through such donations.

Lack of medicines    

In June this year, the then Brong-Ahafo Regional Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Prisons Service, Assistant Superintendent of Prisons (ASP), Mr Vincent Bekyur Ziniel, disclosed that the Sunyani Central Prisons Infirmary had no medicines for the treatment of inmates.

According to him, the officers at the infirmary sometimes had to use their own money to buy medicines or pay medical bills for the inmates when the need arose.

Mr Ziniel, therefore, called for help to address the dire situation.

It was, therefore, a relief that PIWC, which had over the years been donating to the facility, came to the aid of the inmate once again. 

Feeding

Mr Ofosu said every inmate subsisted on GH¢1.80 per day and indicated that the money was woefully inadequate.

Workshops

Even though the Sunyani Central Prisons has various training workshops, they lack appropriate tools, equipment and machines for effective and quality training of the inmates. 

The few tools and equipment available were bought by the officers and some were donated by philanthropists.

The workshops include facilities for shoemaking, carpentry, block moulding, blacksmithing, dressmaking among other trades.