Two prison camps to be established in Ashanti Region

Two prison camps are to be established at Ejura and Kokofu this year to decongest the prisons in the Ashanti Region. The Ashanti Regional Commander of the Ghana Prisons Service, Lord Nii Boye Tagoe, made this known at the annual get-together of officers of the Ghana Prisons Service in the Ashanti Region in Kumasi last Friday.

The event brought together representatives of the various security services in the region, staff and management of the Prisons Service, prison officers’ wives and other stakeholders.

The gathering was feted to food and drinks, as well as contemporary music and dance, during which the personnel took turns to show off their dancing skills.

Later in an address, Mr Tagoe said the service did not record any negative incident in the region last year and attributed that to the hard work of the personnel.

He lauded the staff and management for their dedication and hard work which enabled the service to maintain its good image and trust of the inmates.

He urged the personnel to work extra hard to help reform the inmates.

 Mr Tagoe said, last year, with the help of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and Ultimate Group of Companies, a private entity, the service replaced all the 15 prison doors with steel ones to safeguard the inmates and the staff at all times.

He said this followed the recommendations of a ministerial team after an attempted jail break two years ago.

Commendation

Mr Tagoe was full of praise for faith-based organisations, non-governmental organisations, philanthropists and other security services for supporting the service in 2016.

He commended the media in particular, for their support towards the development of the service and appealed for more support.

Challenges

Mr Tagoe mentioned the development of deep cracks in some outer walls and congestion in the prisons in the region as the major challenges confronting the service and called for assistance from the public, since the government alone could not do everything.

He also called for support for the “Effiase Project” initiated by the Prisons Council to improve conditions in the prisons, provide increased support towards the welfare and reformation of the inmates, among others.

The Chief Executive Officer of Ultimate Group of Companies, Mr William Addo, who chaired the function, encouraged the prison officers to be disciplined and remain dedicated and committed to their work.