CONGESTION AT SUNYANI PRISONS (PAGE 20)

THE Sunyani Central Prisons Yard, which was originally designed to accommodate between 350 and 400 inmates, now houses more than 800, including remand prisoners.
Some of those on remand have been in custody for about eight years now.
The current number of inmates at the yard represents over 100 per cent of the total number that the premises was built to contain, thereby creating a lot of congestion.
A Deputy Director of the Ghana Prisons Service in charge of the Brong Ahafo Region, Mr Jacob Agambire, who disclosed this to the Daily Graphic in Sunyani, indicated that there were about 499 other prisoners, made up of 18 females at a separate yard in Sunyani, 147 males at the Duayaw Nkwanta Camp Prisons, 161 at Kenyasi and 173 at the Yeji Camp Prisons.
Mr Agambire, who is also the Regional Commander of the Prisons Service, noted that in view of the unbearable situation, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr Joe Ghartey, visited the premises on May 30, 2008 to inaugurate a programme dubbed “Justice for All”, which seeks to look into the cases of prisoners who have overstayed and also to dispose of petty cases that have delayed.
He said as part of the programme, the Attorney-General’s (A-G’s) Office was liaising with the Legal Aid Board in Sunyani to handle some of the cases, while the police had also been directed to produce dockets on some of the remand prisoners for their speedy trial.
Mr Agambire said the A-G’s Office was looking at options for the granting of bail to some of the prisoners, since their offences, including stealing, were “bailable cases”, adding that it was only cases in respect of narcotics, murder and armed robbery which did not warrant the granting of bail.
Asked about the feeding of the inmates, the deputy director quoted the rate per head as 60Gp, vis-à-vis the high cost of food items, and which was meant for three square meals for a prisoner a day.
However, Mr Agambire was quick to point out that there had not been any serious outcry because the “prisoners are reasoning with the situation and are making do with what we provide”.
On general health conditions at the prison, the deputy director disclosed that currently there was a credit facility at the Sunyani Regional Hospital, where indisposed inmates went for treatment and later a bill was submitted for payment.
Mr Agambire, therefore, suggested that the government vote money under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), towards the registration of prisoners who were serving longer sentences instead of always requesting for money from the government to pay hospital bills as and when they were presented by the hospital authorities.
The deputy director, however, said that in the case of those serving short sentences, they could be treated by the hospital and the bills which were submitted could be settled, adding that “the idea is only to reduce cost”.
Asked whether some of the inmates were treated preferentially, especially high-profile persons who had fallen foul of the law, Mr Agambire pointed out that there was nothing like preferential treatment for any category of people in the prisons.
He explained, however, that it was incumbent on the service to provide certain items like mattresses, blankets and soap, but if for one reason or another those things were not forthcoming and a relation of a prisoner decided to provide them, “it will be inhuman to deny him or her that and this does not necessarily mean preferential treatment”.
On training for inmates, Mr Agambire said the service provided skills training for long-serving prisoners in trades such as carpentry, tailoring, dressmaking and blacksmithing so that after their release they could engage themselves to earn a living.