Inmates with mental disorders high at Sunyani Prisons

The Sunyani Central Prisons is recording high figures of inmates with forms of mental disorders. This situation, according to prison officers, remained a serious challenge, and appealed to the Judiciary and the Police Service to check the health history of suspects during trial.

A prison officer at the Central Prisons raised the concern in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the sidelines of a sensitisation forum to mark the Constitution Week Celebration, organised by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) in Sunyani.

The Prison Officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it was a human rights abuse for a mentally-challenged convict to serve his or her sentence at the Central Prisons. He said some inmates were minors and called on the relevant institutions to deal with the issue.

The Assistant Director of Prisons (ADP) Raphael Tuekpe, the Deputy Brong-Ahafo Regional Prisons Commander, confirmed the story but said the Prison always reported immediately to the Headquarters if under-aged convicts and those with mental illnesses were brought to serve their sentences. He expressed worry about the overcrowding at the Central Prisons, indicating that the facility, which was to accommodate 450 inmates, currently has more than 890 inmates.

Madam Doris Gbongbo, the Acting Brong-Ahafo Regional Director of the NCCE, lauded the collaboration between the Commission and the Prisons, and called on other departments and agencies to do same to educate the public on policies and programmes of government.