Gov’t falls on Asantehene for land to relocate K’si Central Prisons

The government is looking for land to relocate the Kumasi Central Prisons, the Interior Minister Mark Woyongo has stated.

He said the government is in consultation with the Manhyia Palace for a suitable location aimed at moving the detention facility out of town.

“I think [the current location of the prison] is a problem. When I was in Kumasi yesterday, I had plans to go and pay a courtesy call on the Asantehene and to ask for a piece of land, possibly on the outskirts of Kumasi for a relocation of the Kumasi Prisons,” Woyongo told host of Ultimate Breakfast Prince Minkah.

The Minister, who visited the Kumasi Central Prisons on Monday, following last Wednesday’s failed jailbreak mentioned that Ghana’s prisons are inundated with many inappropriate conditions such as overcrowding, poor feeding, and poor infrastructure among others.

Woyongo has charged the Ashanti Regional Security Council to follow up on the land acquisition programme to relocate the prison.

The facility, built in 1901 and upgraded in 1925 was meant for 600 inmates but now accommodates over 2,000 inmates.

Woyongo hinted that the recent disturbance that occurred at the Kumasi Central Prisons was a planned prison break.

According to him, information available indicates that some people were behind the prison break as vehicles were parked outside to whisk away some of the prisoners.

One of the prison cells at the Kumasi Central Prisons last week caught fire resulting in the prison officers opening the cells for the inmates to go into the open, while the wardens tried to put out the fire with fire extinguishers.

One inmate died following a scuffle between some of the inmates and security personnel during the attempted jailbreak.