‘Justice for All’ helps in decongestion – PRO
Prisons in Ghana are congested – PRO
In the past, concerns have been raised about the state of congestion in the various prisons in Ghana.
Pictures have been sighted on social media with various reports about the devastating conditions some prison inmates have to live under in some of these prisons.
Speaking to the issue on GhanaWeb’s The Lowdown programme, Public Relations Officer (PRO) for the Ghana Prisons Service, Chief Superintendent Courage Atsem noted that Ghana’s prisons currently have 13,743 inmates including those on remand.
“We have 13,743 inmates,” he told host Nii Akwei Ismail Akwei.
Chief Supt. Courage Atsem further admitted that Ghana’s prisons are currently congested, stating that there is currently an overflow in almost every prison since Ghana has a jail capacity of 9,945 persons.
“The fact is that our jail capacity as we speak is 9, 945 and we have 13,743 so that’s roughly about 4000 in excess and so it brings congestion in most of our prisons that’s what the challenge actually is,” he stated.
Speaking on interventions being made to decongest prisons, Mr. Courage Atsem noted that a number of policies have been put in place to that effect. He cited the ‘Justice for all’ initiative which seeks to serve justice and free up space in the various prisons.
“The Justice for All programme sets up special courts in the prisons where these cases are heard and the result is that some finally get convicted depending on the evidence adduced in court, some get freed some get bailed, some are referred to psychiatry hospitals or other hospitals for further examination,” he added.
Appreciating the impact of the ‘Justice for All’ programme which seeks to serve people who were unfairly served, he noted that it goes a long way to cut down on figures of inmates in the various prisons and serve people with the justice they deserve.
“It reduces the remand population in our prisons,” he noted.
Watch the programme below.
