All the 63 inmates of the Nsawam Medium Security Prison who graduated from the University of Cape Coast (UCC) will not be able to undertake their mandatory one-year national service. 

This is because they have not been issued their Ghana Cards, a prerequisite national identification needed to undertake national service.

An affected inmate of the Nsawam Medium Security Prison who has been in the facility for 13 years made this known to members of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights when they embarked on a familiarisation visit last Monday to the prison, which serves as the seat of the Eastern Regional Command.

He, therefore, pleaded with the Committee to intervene to enable them to undertake their service.

Led by its Chairman and Member of Parliament (MP) for Kumawu, Ernest Yaw Anim, the committee members were at the prison to assess the conditions under which the inmates were being kept and monitor its compliance with international human rights standards in order to provide the right advocacy to get the needed support for inmates.

Other members of the committee are the MP for Ahafo Ano South West, Elvis Osei Mensah Dapaah; National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Madina, Francis-Xavier Sosu; MP for Akuapem South, Lawrencia Dziwornu; the MP for Kwabre East, Akwasi Gyamfi Onyina-Acheampong; the MP for Manhyia North, Akwasi Konadu, and the MP for Builsa North, James Agalga.

The Eastern Regional Commander and Officer in charge (OIC) of the Nsawam Medium Security Prison, Deputy Director of Prisons (DDP) Patrick Thomas Seidu, confirmed the claims made by the inmate to the Daily Graphic, and said communication from the National Identification Authority indicated that only children would be allowed to register, with no specific date given for registration of the inmates. 

Issues

Touching on issues affecting the prison, DDP Seidu said the prison was originally built to accommodate 717 inmates, with each dormitory housing 20 inmates.

However, he explained that due to limited space, the prison now accommodated 3,548 inmates with each dormitory taking 430 inmates, leading to overcrowding.

In addition to that, DDP Seidu said the feeding grant for the inmates had not been increased since 2011.

Currently, each inmate is entitled to GH¢1.80.

Again, DDP Seidu said the command had inadequate vehicles, and many of what they had were non-functional.

The command, he said, owed GH¢200,000 for drugs supplied to inmates, and was also owing the National Health Insurance Scheme GH¢506,203.

Other issues enumerated included the lack of access to legal aid and scanners to screen persons visiting the prison. 

Assurance

The Chairman of the committee, for his part, underscored the need for improvements in prison conditions across the country.

Mr Anim called for immediate government action to improve feeding rates, comparing the situation unfavourably to the School Feeding Programme which offered students more substantial meals.

“These are things we feel that as the Human Rights Committee, the government needs to pay attention to.

“These bills need to be settled as soon as possible, so that the right to health, the right to life by these inmates will be taken care of and not be violated,” he said.

Mr Anim assured the command that the challenges would be brought to Parliament's attention to advocate the necessary reforms.

With some of the inmates being behind bars since 1979, Mr Sosu, also a human rights lawyer, called for presidential intervention to grant amnesty to those inmates who had served more years.

He said given the fact that Ghana had abolished the death penalty, it was important for President Mahama to consider commuting death sentences to definite terms, such as 25 years, in line with Article 17 of the 1992 Constitution.

The Madina MP announced plans for the Human Rights Committee to formally petition the President and the Office of the Attorney-General to advocate a review of the cases and seek timely intervention from the President.