[ 2014-07-21 ]

Survey reveals widespread prisoner neglect across the country
A survey of Prisons across the country by the
Auditor General has found widespread prisoner
neglect with an average of 48 prisoners forced to
share one toilet.

With the exception of the newly constructed
Ankaful Maximum Security Prison, the Auditor
General found that all the other prisons had torn
window nets, falling ceilings and leaking roofs of
prison dormitories and cells.

Auditors inspected prison infirmaries and found
that they were without drugs to treat ailments
such as malaria and skin infections that are
common among prison inmates.

Also with the exception of Nsawam and Ankaful
Maximum Prisons where medical doctors do go there
to perform minor surgical operations on affected
inmates, the rest of the prison facilities visited
do not have medical doctors assigned to prison
facilities.

The audit team also noted that, apart from the
Ankaful Prison Camp that is managed by a trained
nurse, all the other infirmaries were managed by
health assistants.

Auditors also found that the prisons are still
congested making it difficult for the Ghana
Prisons Service to do classification of prisoners
according to the class of offence.

In spite of the difficulties found with
accommodation and general poor prison facilities,
the auditors established that at the Ankaful
prison only two of the six flats are being
utilized.

The four remaining blocks have no prisoners
occupying them.

There is one major positive however, the remand
population has reduced from 4285 to 2,979 because
of the work of the justice for all programme.

Source - MyjoyOnline

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