The Ghana Prisons Service is responsible for the safe custody of prisoners in

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

, as well as their welfare, reformation and rehabilitation. It is under the jurisdiction of the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

Administration

The prisons service is governed by the Prisons Service Council, an advisory and supervisory body. Its Functions includes advising the President on "matters of policy in relation to the organisation and maintenance of the prisons system in Ghana." The Prisons Headquarters in the Greater Accra region houses the Director-General of Prisons and two Deputy Director-General of Prisons, Nine Directors of Prisons and other principal office holders. The current Director General of the service is Issac Egyir.

Prisons

There are 49 prison establishments in Ghana, including twelve major male prisons. These male prisons are located in Akuse,

Kumasi Kumasi is a city and the capital of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It is the second largest city in the country, with a population of 443,981 as of the 2021 census. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region ...

Sekondi Sekondi-Takoradi ( ) is a city in Ghana comprising the twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi. It is the capital of Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan District and the Western Region of Ghana. Sekondi-Takoradi is the region's largest city as well as ...

Tamale A tamale, in Spanish language, Spanish , is a traditional Mesoamerican dish made of ''masa'', a dough made from nixtamalization, nixtamalized maize, corn, which is steaming, steamed in a corn husk or Banana leaf, banana leaves. The wrapping ...

Sunyani Sunyani () is a city and the capital of the Sunyani Municipal District and the Bono Region of Ghana. The city is located about northwest of Kumasi and away from Accra. It is the sixth largest city in the country as of the 2010 census, with ...

Navrongo Navrongo is a town and the capital of Kassena-Nankana Municipal District in the Upper East Region of northern Ghana, adjacent to the border with Burkina Faso. Navrongo is an important market town, known for its cathedral and its grotto. It hou ...

, Wa,

Tarkwa Tarkwa is a town and is the capital of Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal District, Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal district, a district in the Western Region, Ghana, Western Region southwest of South Ghana. Frequently dubbed as the "Golden City" by its indigenous ...

Winneba Winneba is a town and the capital of Effutu Municipal District in Central Region of South Ghana. Winneba has a population of . Winneba, traditionally known as ''Simpa'', is a historic fishing port in south Ghana, lying on the south coast, ...

, and

Cape Coast Cape Coast is a city and the capital of the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly, Cape Coast Metropolitan District and the Central Region (Ghana), Central Region of Ghana, Ghana. It is located about from Sekondi-Takoradi and approximately from Ac ...

. The country also has seven major female prisons, located in Akuse, Ho, Nsawam, Sekondi, Sunyani, Kumasi, and Tamale. In addition, there are local prisons sited throughout the country. The James Camp Prison near

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

, and Ankaful near Cape Coast, are both Open Camp Prisons. Ghana's prisons house between 11,000 and 14,000 inmates, with females forming approximately 2% of the prison population. Prisons in Ghana are classified based on their level of security, and on the activities undertaken at the various establishments: # In the Central Prisons, trade training facilities are provided to equip prisoners with employable skills for their effective reintegration into society. They take custody of long-sentenced prisoners. Central Prisons are the central points for all categories of prisoners, with the exception of condemned prisoners. # Local Prisons are mainly responsible for the safe custody and welfare of inmates, due to the lack of space for trade training activities. They usually take custody of short-sentenced prisoners. # Open Camp Prisons undertake agricultural activities to provide food and train inmates in modern agricultural practices. Prisoners who are about to be released are at times transferred to these facilities as transit to prepare them for their final release into society. # In Agricultural Settlement Camps, the level of security is quite relaxed; they are usually not fenced. The main objective is to train inmates in agricultural activities, and to produce enough food to supplement the feeding of inmates and generate some income for the Prisons Service.

Staff

The Ghana Prisons Service has 6,200 officers and staff. Twenty percent of the staff are women. In 2017 the staff strength of the service was 5,898.

Prison conditions

The main challenge that confronts the service is a persistent lack of funds. One effect of this, evident since 1972, is that the service is unable to ensure that convicts do not reoffend. Other challenges that face the service include

prison overcrowding Prison overcrowding is a social phenomenon occurring when the demand for space in a prison exceeds the capacity for Prisoner, prisoners. By country Egypt Amnesty International reported on 25 January 2021 the abuse of prisoners in Egypt not onl ...

, lack of

sanitation Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems ...

, and poor prison infrastructure. Some of the prisons are extremely outdated. For example, the almost 400 years old James Fort Prison in Accra was in use as a prison until 2008. It was originally built for 200

slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

, but housed over 740 male and female prisoners. # Insufficient budget allocation for Reformation Programmes – prisoners are generally unskilled and unmotivated as they enter prison. There are many deficiencies to be corrected and funding is needed for the programmes to be effective. # Poor accommodation structures – old and weak structures and poor architectural designs unsuitable for long detention of people. Overcrowding often leads to poor sanitation and health problems. # Stigmatization of prisoners – stigmatization of prisoners leads to dejection and reoffending which lead to recidivism and high crime rate undermines efforts of reformation and rehabilitation of prisons. # Lack of support from public to reform and reintegrate prisoners after their release.

Human rights issues

Squalid conditions, poor food and overcrowding in Ghana's prisons were called "cruel,

inhuman and degrading treatment Cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (CIDT) is treatment of persons which is contrary to human rights or dignity, but is not classified as torture. It is forbidden by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Hu ...

," by the UN in 2013. The extent of prison overcrowding is estimated to be higher than the government's official figures. Prison authorities use a system where inmates known as "black coats" whip other misbehaving prisoners with canes.

Training

Training of prison officers is done at the Prisons Service Training School. The school was established as the Warders' Training Depot in September, 1947. The purpose of the school is to train the Ghanaians to meet the administrative and operational needs of the Ghana Prisons Service. There are courses for recruits, officer cadet and special courses. The school admitted its first cadet officers 1974.

Statistics

As of 2015, Patrick Darko Missah the then Deputy Controller in charge of Finance and Administration of the Ghana Prisons Service revealed that there were 14, 585 inmates with 11,581 convicts and 3004 on remand. The inmate numbers were more than what the prisons in the country could handle. This was due to the fact that apart from

Nsawam Nsawam is a town in south Ghana and is the capital of the Nsawam-Adoagyire Municipal District, a district in the country's Eastern Region. The town's main ethnic group is Akan, followed by Ga and then Ewe.Ankaful, and the Kete Krachi Prisons which were purpose built, all other prisons were makeshifts from warehouses, stores, and silos among others, meant to house goods. United Nations support The

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

(UNDP) is supporting the reorganisation of the Ghana Prisons Service under a four-year project, focusing on

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

development. As part of the restructuring, the Borstal Institute for Juveniles is now called the Senior Correctional Centre.

References

{{authority control Law enforcement in Ghana Government ministries of Ghana