The decision by the Ghana Prisons Service to officially investigate allegations involving convicted prisoner Issahaku Alhassan, alias Sule Yangari, has been welcomed by many residents in Atebubu, Amantin, and surrounding communities.

Some members of the community, however, say they are prepared to petition the President for an independent probe should the ongoing investigation fail to meet expectations of transparency and accountability.

According to residents, public confidence in the process will depend heavily on whether the findings are openly communicated and whether all individuals connected to the allegations are thoroughly investigated.

In a public statement issued by the Public Affairs Department of the Ghana Prisons Service and signed by DDP Janet Asabea, the Service acknowledged the seriousness of allegations raised by the Ghana Police Service linking Yangari to the murder investigation of Abambahemaa Nana Serwaa Asaama Agyakoma I, popularly known as Ohemaa of Ohemaa’s Kitchen.

The statement confirmed that Yangari, a convicted prisoner serving his sentence at the Ankaful Maximum Security Prison, is alleged to have played an intermediary role in facilitating the murder plot.

The Prisons Service further announced that a high-powered team had been constituted to investigate the matter while assuring the public that any officer or individual found culpable in breaches of prison security protocols would face the full rigour of the law. The statement failed to mention the team members carrying out the investigations.

For many observers in the area, the decision to investigate the matter is a necessary and important first step.

However, residents and community members say the investigation must go much deeper to restore public confidence in the integrity of Ghana’s prison system.

One of the central issues emerging from the case concerns Yangari’s alleged access to mobile phones while incarcerated.

In its statement, the Prisons Service explained that inmates are permitted to make only heavily supervised calls through official institutional phone booths, and that possession of personal mobile phones remains strictly prohibited.

Yet residents within the Amantin community insist there is already substantial evidence suggesting Yangari had persistent access to mobile communication devices from prison.

Community members say multiple audio messages allegedly sent by Yangari through WhatsApp have circulated widely within the area for months.

According to residents familiar with the recordings, the messages were not simple monitored institutional voice calls as described in the Prisons Service statement, but rather direct mobile communications sent through internet-based applications.

The existence of such recordings, residents argue, raises critical questions about how a convicted prisoner allegedly gained repeated access to mobile devices and communication channels within a maximum-security prison environment.

For many Ghanaians, the investigation has also reopened longstanding public concerns about unequal treatment within the prison system.

Across several communities, there has historically been a widespread perception that some influential or connected prisoners continue to enjoy privileges and operational freedom even while officially incarcerated.

Residents say the Yangari case presents the Ghana Prisons Service with an opportunity to demonstrate genuine institutional reform and transparency.

According to observers, a credible investigation would not only focus on Yangari himself but also seek to identify any networks of complicity that may have enabled his alleged operations from prison.

Community members say investigators must establish how mobile phones allegedly reached the inmate, who may have facilitated the communications, and whether prison officers or external actors played roles in enabling the alleged activities.

Residents also believe that tracing call records, WhatsApp communications, visitor logs, and interactions connected to Yangari could potentially expose a much wider network of accomplices and collaborators. For many within the area, this aspect of the investigation may prove even more important than the immediate murder allegations themselves.

They argue that if convicted prisoners are indeed able to coordinate activities, issue threats, manage land disputes, or influence youth groups from prison custody, then the implications extend far beyond a single criminal case.

The controversy has also exposed the extent of fear surrounding Yangari within sections of the community. Residents say there has long been suspicion that the convict prisoner maintained unusually strong operational influence within Amantin despite his incarceration.

Some community members even speculate that Yangari may have occasionally been leaving prison custody unofficially, particularly at night, though no official evidence has yet been publicly presented to substantiate those claims.

Nonetheless, the suspicions alone have created significant uneasiness within the area. Residents describe Yangari as an individual many people feared even before the current murder investigation emerged.

According to community members, he allegedly maintained influence over sections of the youth, controlled farming activities and disputed lands, and routinely sent threatening messages to rivals and perceived opponents.

For many residents, the idea that such influence could allegedly be exercised from prison custody has become deeply unsettling.

Observers say the significance of the investigation now goes beyond the murder investigation itself. The matter has become a broader test of whether Ghana’s correctional system can convincingly assure the public that convicted criminals are genuinely separated from society and prevented from continuing operations while incarcerated.

Many residents believe the Prisons Service now has a rare opportunity to confront public distrust directly through transparency and accountability.

A thorough investigation, they argue, would not only help establish the truth surrounding Sule Yangari’s alleged prison operations but could also become a turning point in rebuilding public confidence in the country’s prison administration.

For now, however, many within Atebubu and Amantin say they are watching closely to see whether the investigation will fully confront the deeper institutional questions now facing the Ghana Prisons Service.