Remand Prisoners Should Not Be Treated As Convicts – Bishop Agyin-Asare

The Presiding Bishop of the Word Miracle Church International (WMCI), Most Rev. Dr. Charles Agyin Asare has reiterated the need for the country to ensure that remand prisoners are no longer treated as convicts or incarcerated for unduly long periods and in some cases forgotten totally.

He has called on government as well as Benevolent societies, to support the Senior Correctional Centre (SCC) former called Bostal Institute in Accra.

“We also have a social responsibility towards this nation and so we have to give…there is overcrowding, lack of beds, with prisoners sleeping on the floors, poor nutrition and a lack of ventilation. Medical facilities were inadequate, and the prisons were supplied only the most basic medicines. I want to appeal to the nation and to stakeholders and other institutions that we should take up some of these responsibilities and help put our prisons in shape because there are so many reasons why people end up in prison…and so it is important that as a nation, we all help to put the prisons together and make it more habitable and more humane than we can see it now. There is a lot we can do as a nation…”he said.

As part of its 25th Anniversary Celebrations and in obedience to Jesus’ admonition to visit prisoners, the Church made a donation to the infirmary department of the institute worth GH¢20,000.

The items include collapsible hospital beds with mattresses, bed sheets, wheel chairs, a refrigerator and many more.

Quoting Article 15 of the 1992 Constitution, which says “the dignity of all persons shall be inviolable and that no person whether he is arrested, restricted or detained, shall be subjected to torture or condition that detracts or is likely to detract from his dignity and worth as a human being…”, Bishop Agyin Asare said there is the need to ensure that remand prisoners are no longer treated as convicts or incarcerated for unduly long periods and in some cases are forgotten totally.

He urged the inmates to take hold of the opportunity given to them and bring a change into their lives. He said they should endeavour not to go back to their old ways and always remember to make Christ the centre of their lives.

“I don’t know why you ended up here; for whatever reason why you ended up here you should leave this place a better person. Whatever you need to learn so that you correct your lives, do it so that you become a blessing to society. Don’t let this place be a stepping stone to further crimes. This place should be a place that should make you decide that from here, you are not going to go back into anything that will take you into another incarceration: from one prison to the other. That should not be your story. The fact that you find yourself here, does not mean this is the end of your life…there are better things ahead of you…,” Bishop Agyin Asare said.

Receiving the items on behalf of the inmates and prison officers, Deputy Director of Prisons, Stephen Cofie expressed appreciation to the WMCI. He also appealed to government to help with resources that can help students who wants to further their education to do so.

Rev. Christian Sowah, Head Pastor of the Ashaley Botchway branch of WMCI who was part of the team that made the donation stressed that after the inmates have been reformed, society endeavour to receive them wholeheartedly so that they will not go back to their old ways. He said they should be showed with love and even given jobs to do. To him, this will help them to be totally transformed.

The WMCI was founded on the 29th March 1987 in Tamale (Northern Region of Ghana) with a Crusade at the Police Park organized by the Brother Charles Gospel Crusade led by Bishop Charles Agyin Asare. The Church has a Scholarship Scheme for smart but needy Second Cycle Students which caters for their Tuition, Boarding and all billable items. The Church has also established basic schools in the Northern and Volta Regions of Ghana.

As part of its social responsibilities, every year, WMCI organizes a party for the less privileged where it gathers thousands of street children, head porters (Kayayei) and the neglected aged at the Perez Dome where they are fed, given free Medicare, Clothes, treated to some hair and beauty therapies and good Christian music. The Church also operates a widow’s fund that helps to cater for their needs.