Navrongo prisons officers angry over deduction of election duty allowance

Danger is looming as scores of officers at the Navrongo Central Prisons are up in arms against authorities at the facility for reportedly deducting from allowances allocated to them for election duty.

Each of the assigned corrections officers, according to sources, is supposed to receive Gh¢500. But a list sighted by Starr News has as many as 86 officers made to sign for only Gh¢300 each.

The authorities reportedly sought to justify the deductions made by explaining to the aggrieved officers that the amounts taken away from their allowances were to be given to the officers who had not been detailed for the December 7 general elections.

But the assigned officers, suspecting that the deduction was a furtive attempt by the authorities at the facility to take advantage of them, would have none of the explanations. They said they had heard the Inspector General of Police, James Oppong-Boanuh, mention in a recent media interview that security officers (including prison officers) assigned responsibilities on the Election Day had been allotted Gh¢500 each as a duty allowance whilst each police officer would be given an additional Gh¢100 to secure a new uniform for the polls.

“The Inspector-General of Police has made it clear that each of us is to be given Gh¢500. To our surprise, we are being compelled to sign a document or list to take Gh¢300. Out of the Gh¢500, we are being given Gh¢300 as our ration for the election duty.

“We have also learned that they will still take away Gh¢100 from the Gh¢300 left to be given to officers who will remain at the prisons to watch over the inmates. In fact, we prison officers are very peeved. We are very annoyed. This has always happened to us anytime money is sent to us. Give us our dues! And if this issue is not addressed from now to Monday the Election Day, I tell you, any prison officer at anywhere can be compromised,” one of the officers is heard warning on an audiotape made available to Starr News.

Efforts made by Starr News Sunday evening to reach the authorities for their side of the story did not yield any response from their end as the telephone calls and message forwarded to them were not answered.