Preprah was denied medical care

'Man's inhumanity to man' was demonstrated at the Nsawam Prison last week when Mr. Kwame Peprah, former NDC Minister of Finance and political prisoner of conscience (as the 'Quality Grain 3' are referred to by the inmates of Nsawam Prison) who is serving a four year prison term for an offence of 'wilfully causing financial loss to the state' which according to the Judge did not involve stealing, corruption or illegal transfer of money, was denied access to medical attention allegedly on the instructions of the Minister of Interior, Mr. Hackman Owusu-Agyeman.

Mr. Peprah's doctor had sought permission to attend to the medical care of Mr. Peprah who had complained of feeling unwell for some time.

The doctor had the shock of his life when the request, normally considered as routine by the prison authorities, was declined allegedly on the instructions of the Minister of Interior.

The ostensible reason given for this classic case of 'man's inhumanity to man' was the escape of John Malm, alias Baby Nii, from prison custody whilst being taken to hospital.

But there is a world of difference between the Baby Nii and Kwame Peprah situations. In the Baby Nii case, he had been taken out of the prison gates and was being escorted to hospital when he escaped.

In Kwame Peprah's case, the doctor was coming inside the hospital to treat him inside the hospital. The question of 'escape' therefore did not arise.

Meanwhile, Ghana Palaver has learnt that the prison has no vehicle to convey prisoner-patients to either the Korle Bu or Police Hospitals. Three times in the last six weeks, Mr. Victor Selormey, another NDC political prisoner of conscience has missed urgent medical appointments because of lack of transport. It is well known that Mr. Selormey has a serious heart condition and indeed wears a pacemaker.

Ghana Palaver has also learnt that there is no doctor at the Nsawam Prison Infirmary and there are no drugs either.

It will be recalled that last year, the Ghana Palaver published an urgent appeal launched by Dr. Kwame Addo-Kufuor, the then Acting Minister of Interior, for ?300 million to purchase drugs for the Nsawam Prison at a time when billions of cedis were being spent to renovate the bungalows of Ministers.

In another development, Ghana Palaver has learnt that using the escape of Baby Nii as a pretext, the prison authorities are being made to implement an outdated regulation on prison visits in order to implement the NPP agenda of political harassment of the political prisoners of conscience.

The 'Quality Grain 3', considered the most harmless of inmates and as model prisoners by the prison authorities, have now been restricted to three visits per person per week. This is seen as a continuation of the political harassment of the three persons which has been going on for the last two and a half years.

The consequence of this restriction is that visitors who travel from distant places are turned back at the prison gates. Last Monday, a group of about 10 constituents from Alhaji Ibrahim Adam's Choggu-Tishigu constituency in Tamale had a hard time gaining access to visit him because of the new restrictions, the fact that they had travelled all the way from Tamale notwithstanding.

Ghana Palaver's information is that the NPP and Hackman Owusu-Agyeman are very disappointed that the spirit of the 'Quality Grain 3' does not appear to have been broken and are bent on doing everything to make sure that prison life is made as uncomfortable for them as possible.

The question observers are asking is whether the 'Quality Grain 3' are dangerous, to which some prison officials Ghana Palaver talked to answered in the negative. According to one of them, they are the most harmless of all their inmates, so he is at a loss to understand why they are being harassed so much.

Ghana Palaver notes that Mallam Yusif Isa was not dangerous either. He fell sick or was made to fall sick.

He was hospitalised at the Police Hospital for quite some time, and the NPP Government made sure that the story was leaked to the public, so that when it came to his being released under a Presidential pardon on health grounds, no eyebrows were raised.

?Why can's the sick NDC political prisoners of conscience also be given access to medical care? is the question that the inmates and the prison authorities are asking among themselves.