Navrongo (U/E) Aug. 29, GNA - The Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Alhaji Awudu Yiremeah on Tuesday said the government attaches great importance to the Prisons Service.
He said it was against this background that the government recently inaugurated the Ghana Prisons Council to overlook, study the problems confronting the service and make recommendations as to how to resolve them.
Alhaji Yerimeah made this observation when he inaugurated the Prisons Ladies Association (PRILAS) at Navrongo in the Upper East Region.
He announced that plans were far advanced by the Regional Coordinating Council to look into problems confronting the service with a view to assisting in the search for solutions.
The Chief Superintendent of Prisons (CSP) in charge of Upper East Region, Mr. Leopard Kwame Amoah Ansah in a speech read on his behalf by his Deputy, Mr. Oppong Tweneboah-Kondua, urged Prisons Officers to endeavour to transform the inmates entrusted them into good citizens. He expressed the optimism that the activities of PRILAS would complement the efforts of the Prisons Service.
Chief Superintendent Ansah stated that the development of society depended on the total cooperation of all. "Unfortunately, all of us in one way or the other, overtly or covertly, may contribute in making some members of society criminals. We may have shirked some responsibilities towards their upkeep", the CSP stressed.
He emphasized that it was incumbent upon all and sundry to contribute substantially towards the rehabilitation of prison inmates. The President of PRILAS, Ms Esther Kofitche, said one of the main objectives of the Association was to empower members to enable them to address pertinent issues confronting them in their respective homes. She appealed to the Government, District Assemblies and other stakeholders to help PRILAS set up a Batik and Soap making industry to assist inmates acquire skills that would enable them to integrate well in society when they were released.
Ms Kofitche further appealed for a tractor and other logistics to enable the association undertake a large scale farming to generate income and to feed the inmates.
The Kassena-Nankana District Chief Executive, Mr. Emmanuel Chegeweh commended PRILAS for its foresight, and said the formation of the Association would afford them a strong voice to influence and shape decisions affecting them.
He assured PRILAS that the assembly would assist them in all their endeavours, especially in the area of acquiring loans from the Rural Enterprise Project and other sources, to execute the Batik and soap project.
Mr. Chegeweh further assured them of tractor services to undertake large scale of farming to support the prison inmates. He commended them for adopting an orphaned baby called Prince Ayisala from the Navrongo War Memorial Hospital, and urged them to also ensure that the baby was exclusively breastfed.
