Prisons need refurbishment and expansion - Bishop Brace

The Bishop of the Sekondi Methodist Diocese, Right Reverend Daniel De-Graft Brace, has called for the refurbishment of prisons to carry out their core mandate of reformation, rehabilitation and reintegration of inmates into society.

He noted with grave concern the prevailing conditions in most of the country’s prisons, which were inhumane and nothing to write home about.

Rt. Rev. Brace made the call during the presentation of assorted food items worth GHc15,000 to inmates of the Sekondi Prisons by the Methodist Ministers’ Spousal Association of the Sekondi Diocese.

The items, made up of 15 bags of gari, six gallons of cooking oil, 20 bags of rice, two bags of maize, 17 boxes of key soap, three bags of sugar, two boxes of tea bags, three boxes of Pepsodent tooth paste, a box of toothbrushes and three bags of sunlight soap.

Rt. Rev. Brace stressed the need to de-congest the country's prisons and make them more comfortable for the inmates to be fully re-integrated into society.

He advised the inmates to reflect soberly on their conditions in the prisons and repent of their crimes in order to attract the mercies of God for a pardon.

The Bishop reminded the inmates that "though they have been condemned by government to suffer that fate,they have not been condemned by God".

The Rt.Rev.Brace encouraged the inmates to take consolation of the fact that the Apostle Paul was engineered to write many epistles while in prison.

He told the inmates that God knew why they must languish in prison and appealed to them to repent and accept the Lord and Master Jesus Christ as their saviour before they were released from prison.

Mrs Juliana De-Graft Brace, the President of the Methodist Ministers Association, said as part of its annual gesture to the needy and under-privileged in society, the Association decided to visit inmates of the Sekondi Male Prisons to put smiles on their faces.

She said the donation was also in fulfillment of scripture where the Lord Jesus Christ charged his followers to visit the sick, the needy and downtrodden in society and exhibit love and affection towards them.

Mrs Brace added that it was the intention of the Spousal Association to support their husbands to make the tenets of the gospel more practical.

She said the Association, which had just celebrated its 40th Anniversary, would continue the humanitarian gesture to the needy in society.

The Regional Prisons Chaplain, Rev. George Akuamoah-Boateng, expressed gratitude to the Methodist Church for the noble gesture.

He called on other benevolent organisations and philantropists to contribute their widow's mite to the prisons.