Police unable to provide juvenile cells, operates in rented premises – Commander

Saltpond District Police Commander, Assistant Superintendent of Police David Ashong, has said because the police operate mostly in rented houses, they were unable to provide cells for juveniles.

ASP Ashong spoke to the GNA following a workshop on Juvenile Administrative Justice organised by Foundation Builders Kids Club in collaboration with Ghana NGO Coalition on the Rights of the Child and Plan Ghana for some stakeholders at Saltpond.

The workshop expressed dissatisfaction about how juvenile administrative justice was being administered in the country, noting particularly about absence of juvenile cells in most of the districts and municipalities.

The workshop was a follow-up to the one held last year during which action plans were drawn to help the Police Administration to put up a juvenile cell in the Mfantseman Municipality.

ASP Ashong said a police station that includes a juvenile cell started years ago had been abandoned.

Mrs Baaba Brew Fleischer, Executive Director, Foundation Builders Kids Club, said juveniles turned out to become hardened criminals if they were not taken good care of and mixed with adults in one cell.

She appealed to the government to resource the Department of Social Welfare and other organisations that deal with children’s issues.

Barima Akwasi Amankwaa, Programme Officer, Ghana NGOs Coalition on the Rights of the Child, called on Ghanaians to step up education on the rights and responsibilities of the child and called for Child Rights Clubs to be formed not only in schools but also in the churches.**