Prisons services calls for verification before publication

Mr Vitalis Aiyeh, Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Prisons Service has appealed to various media houses to clarify issues with the authorities of the service before going ahead to publish.

He said as a corrective organization, people who are not interested in corrections were likely to distort information and misinform the public on their plight to gain 'unnecessary' favour from the public.

Mr Aiyeh, who was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on their performance in the face of rising crime in the system said, the corrective organization would continue to uphold the virtues bequeathed to them by other international bodies that they are signatories too.

"The authorities wish to state that the Prisons Service has opened its gates to Journalists and civil society groups for them to join hands with...to reclaim young lives from crime, "he added.

The Public Relations Officer said in conformity with the reformatory role of the Ghana Prisons Service, they had established and were training the inmates in a number of trade and vocational skills that would empower them financially when they leave the prisons.

He mentioned shoemaking, auto mechanic, electrical, tailoring, weaving, horticulture, ceramics, carpentry, ICT and others as the areas the inmates were receiving training to better their lives after prisons.

Mr Aiyeh also touched on an allegation made by Mr Moses Louis Ametame, a former inmate of the Borstal institute that the Service was supervising crime and illegalities on a private radio station.

He said the report was 'full of inaccuracies and falsehood, which can best be described as an attempt to glorify himself and cast a slur on the image of the centre.'

He said there had not been any record of Prisons Officers smoking at the institute and the alleged embezzlement of funds was also untenable as donors do not present cash to officers.

He said the said organization had donated training tools and other logistics for the training of inmates and not cash as alleged by the former inmate.

The Prisons officer commended the Religious bodies, Non-Governmental Organizations and other organized bodies and individuals who had over the years supported the service to perform their duties and urged them to ignore the allegations.

On the future, Mr Aiyeh said it was not possible to completely eliminate crime in the system, his outfit would however play a meaningful role in their reformation to prevent them from engaging in criminal activities after serving their sentences.