Ghana signs prisoner-transfer deal with UK

To make the transfer of prisoners between Ghana and the United Kingdom possible, the two Commonwealth countries, at a ceremony in Accra Thursday, signed a prisoner transfer deal.

The agreement means Ghanaian prisoners in the UK can be transported back to serve their sentence in Ghana while UK prisoners in Ghana can also be sent back to the UK to serve their sentence.

Deputy Attorney General Dr Dominic Ayine, who signed the agreement on behalf of Ghana said: “Ghana passed the transfer of convicted prisoners act in 2007, and the act allows the country to receive Ghanaians, who have been sentenced to prisons abroad and also, to transfer out of Ghana to any receiving country, prisoners, who are residents of that country”.

Dr Ayine said the requirement of the law is that Ghana has to enter into a bilateral arrangement with these countries, which include the UK so that there can be transfer of prisoners between countries.

The transfer of convicted prisoners act became law in 2007. It was informed by persistent calls from Ghanaians abroad for Ghanaian convicts to serve their sentences in Ghana.