Prisons Council calls on the Ghana Police Service

The Ghana Prisons Council led by its chairman, Rev Dr. Stephen Wengam, has paid a courtesy call on the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Alhassan, at his office in Accra.

The visit was to discuss how their respective institutions can further collaborate to decongest Ghana Prisons and to also express gratitude to the IGP for his enormous support as far as Ghana Prisons is concerned.

Rev Dr Wengam touched on the plight of remand prisoners who form about 40 percent of the prisons population creating serious congestion in the prisons. According to him, many were languishing in jail partly because some police prosecutors failed to do a good job.

The Prisons Board chair also presented a detailed report on the remand prisoners to the IGP. He commended the IGP for the innovation and dynamism he has introduced into the Police Service, citing the visible presence of the police everywhere as very commendable since it has aided in the reduction of crime in Ghana.

The IGP on his part sympathized with the Prisons Service on the overcrowding situation in the Prisons. He explained that lack of logistics on the part of the Police Service largely accounted for the poor prosecution work done sometimes leading to remand prisoners being held for a long time. He promised to work hard to ensure that those anomalies are corrected.

The IGP also called for integration of the stakeholders agencies being the solution to dealing with these many problems. He proposed a meeting with all stakeholders to address the problems at stake.