Being in prison was the scariest moment of my life – Atubiga

Jailbird Stephen Atubiga who spent three days in prison for criminal contempt says seeing the sky high walls of the Nsawam Prisons was the scariest moment of his life.

In a bare-it-all interview on Joy FM's Super Morning Show a day after returning from prison, Mr Atubiga said he contemplated death several times on his first night in jail.

He said the journey to the prison itself was not without moments of anxiety and fear.

"The police officers did not take the right lane, they were on the left lane meeting oncoming vehicles and [driving] at a very top speed. They were very professional, but as a layman sitting in there with my brother Ken Kuranchie, we just said oh God, take us to the prison in one piece," he narrated.

Mr. Atubiga, a member of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC's) communications team, and Daily Searchlight Managing Editor, Ken Kuranchie were found guilty of criminal contempt by the Supreme Court and sentenced to three and 10 days imprisonment respectively.

The sentences were pronounced on Tuesday July 2, 2013 and the two were whisked away straight to jail to begin their respective sentences.

Mr. Atubiga, a professional electrician, served his sentence and was released Thursday.

Narrating his experiences in jail on Joy FM, the NDC's parliamentary candidate for the 2012 elections, said throughout his first night in prison, he feared he would be killed.

His fears heightened when at about 2am, a prison officer tapped peremptorily on the door to his cell and asked him to pack his clothes.

"That was the scariest moment in my life because at 2am, people coming in, just waking you up and telling you, 'take your clothes.' The first thing that came to my mind was...are they going to kill me"?

Prison officers had decided to move him to another prison at Akuse, a fact unknown to him at the time.

He said whilst sitting in a police car waiting to be taken to where-ever the officers were taking him, and whilst the prison officers scurried around and hissed unintelligible words amongst themselves, he bated his breath and prayed to his God.

“We got to Akuse around 4am…and if you know the road to Akuse, it is scary; when the car slows down, you say ‘okay is it where they are going to do it? When they keep going, you say ok, [all is well],” he explained.

According to him, the experience had humbled him. He pledged to never make the kind of incendiary speeches that landed him in jail.

A repentant Atubiga admonished political commentators and communicators to desist from making reckless and volatile statements as that could undermine the peace and security of the nation.

He undertook to tour the country to educate Ghanaians and prepare their minds to accept the verdict of the Supreme Court hearing the Presidential Election Petition challenging the validity of the election of President John Mahama at the 2012 December polls.