A/R: Prisons Service calls for heightened support

The Ashanti Regional Prisons Service is extemporizing and calling on the government to help ease congestion and address feeding challenges in its facilities.

Acknowledging the infrastructure deficit and inadequate feeding allowances for inmates, the Acting Officer In Charge of the Kumasi Central Prisons, CSP Tachie Kofi, has highlighted that the service has devised a strategy to alleviate overcrowding.

This involves relocating prisoners to various farming stations and camps, helping to reduce the strain on prison resources while engaging inmates in productive activities.

The Ghana Prisons Service has long raised concerns about feeding challenges and overcrowding in various prisons, which place serious health risks.

Despite efforts by serial governments to address the issue, overcrowding and feeding remain major challenges.

At the Kumasi Central Prison, nearly 2,000 inmates are confined in facilities originally designed to accommodate only 500.

In response, CSP Tachie Kofi, Acting OIC of the Kumasi Central Prison has increased that they have moved to transferring inmates to farming stations, both to ease congestion and to cultivate food to supplement the inadequate feeding allowance.

He appealed to the general public for support, dissipating the misconception that prison officers keep donated items for themselves instead of using them for the benefit of inmates.

In a statement CSP Tachie Kofi said, “He want to appeal to individuals, religious bodies, organisations that their doors are open. Whoever has something to donate to prisons, that person is welcome so as to get something to complement what the government is giving the inmates.

He again added that “Kumasi Central Prison is supposed to take about 500 inmates but today, they have 1,572 inmates who are currently in our custody which has resulted to overcrowding in the Kumasi prison service.”