Six discharged, two convicted at Sekondi under Justice For All Programme

Six persons who were being held on remand at the Sekondi Prison for various offences have been discharged under the Justice For All programme that seeks to decongest the country’s prisons.

At a special court sitting Friday at the Prisons, the six were cautioned to be of good behaviour by the judges before being discharged, while two others were convicted.

A total of 18 other remanded prisoners were also granted bail while one had the bail application refused. The case of three persons were struck out by the special court which were chaired by Justices Clemence Honyenuga and Hanna Taylor of the Court of Appeal and High Court respectively.

Some of those granted bail broke down in tears, claiming that they will not be able to satisfy the bail conditions, especially getting people to stand surety for them.

Justice Honyenuga told journalists the project would help resolve the challenges to decongest the various prisons in Ghana, noting a lot have been achieved since the inception of the programme in 2007. The Justice for All Program is being executed under the auspices of the Access to Justice for Remand Prisoners Project.

It is in collaboration with the Judicial Service, Attorney General’s Department, Ghana Police Service and Ghana Prisons Service. The Access to Justice Project seeks to alleviate overcrowding at the prisons by setting up special courts to adjudicate on remand prisoners’ cases. The prisoners were offered free legal representation during the hearing of the cases.