Govt. To Improve Conditions In Prisons

Mr.Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, Minister for the Interior, on yesterday reiterated that the government would improve conditions of service of prison officers and rehabilitate the facilities of the Prisons Service to make it hospitable.

Mr.Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, Minister for the Interior, on yesterday reiterated that the government would improve conditions of service of prison officers and rehabilitate the facilities of the Prisons Service to make it hospitable.

"The government does not consider prisons as warehouses where prisoners are kept and released at specific times when they have finished their sentences," he said "People who come out of our prisons should have acquired skills which would make them contribute positively to the country's development," he added.

Mr Owusu-Agyemang was addressing prison officers at the Prisons Headquarters in Accra at the beginning of tour of the James Fort and Nsawam prisons. He said that government was collaborating with its development partners and some NGOs to improve equipment and tools available for the training of inmates in the prisons. He urged prison officers to work together to be able to overcome problems in the service. "Let us use this opportunity to encourage you to undertake regular review of your operations."

Mr Owusu-Agyemang reminded the officers of their role in national development saying, "your responsibility as prison officers is to ensure that the laws of the country are adequately implemented."

Mr Richard Kuuire, Director-General of the Prisons Service, called on government to consider the well-being of officers of the service since a frustrated officer also posed a security risk as well.

The Prisons boss called for the introduction of non-custodial sentences such as community service, suspended sentences, relaxation of bail terms to help decongest the prisons, which are overcrowded.

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