More Ghanaians In UK Jail

Investigations in London have revealed that Ghana ranks very high on the number of its citizens in British jail among other African countries.

43 out of the 52 African countries whose citizens have been imprisoned in the United Kingdom, Ghana occupies fifth on the ladder, by way of high numbers.

A total of 152 Ghanaian citizens made up of 130 men and 22 women are currently in jail in the UK. Statistics available indicate that about half of the figure had been released over the last five months after serving their sentences; seventy-five of them were returned to Ghana by the UK authorities.

The jail terms range form four month to 25 years depending upon the gravity if their crimes. The most common crime among the women was drug trafficking while the male were found guilty mostly of fraud and burglary.

Official from the UK’s Ministry of Justice, Suzanne Colley said there has been a prisoner transfer agreement between the UK and Ghana for those prisoners who want to return and continue servicing their sentences in Ghana. There similar arrangements for British citizens in Ghanaian prisons.

Based on the agreement, she noted Ghanaian Prisoners who wish to serve the rest of their sentence back home have been given the option either to return and serve the rest of their sentences in Ghana or continue to remain in UK jails.

She said, since 17th July 2008 when the agreement became effective, only seven Ghanaians serving prison terms in the UK have opted to be transferred back to Ghana to continue their sentences.

Suzanne Colley stressed that the agreement between the two countries is a voluntary one and only if the prisoners want to be transferred.

Further investigations have revealed that the prisoners preferred to serve their sentences in the UK rather than in Ghana chiefly due to the sharp differences in prison conditions in the two countries. Our investigations have it that conditions in the UK prisons are by far better than the Ghanaians prisons. Aside, “treatment of prisoners in the UK is considered “better than in Ghana.” An ex-convict declared

Seven African Countries, have more than three-quarters of the total African prison population in the UK. Out of the total African prison population of 2676, in the UK Nigeria, Somalia, Algeria, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Congo, South Africa and Sierra Leone alone have a record high figure of 1862.

Africa tops the list of foreign prisoners in the UK with Nigeria, Somalia and Algeria toping the list in that order with 1.300 prisoners, Nigeria with the highest of 667.