Prison Officers Accused Of Stealing Prisoners� Money

Over GH�130 million meant for the upkeep of prison inmates at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison has been embezzled by some prison officers. The amount comprises of money that families of inmates made available for them to use for the purchase of items they may need, as well as money policemen took from the inmates upon their arrest. The Finder�s investigations indicated that an audit, which is still ongoing, revealed the gross embezzlement. The investigations further showed that the anomaly was only realised when the new commander at the Nsawam Prison assumed office in March, this year, and demanded an audit of all accounts of the prison. In a related development, one DSP Atangbe, who was stationed at Nsawam Prisons but is now on retirement, is alleged to have squandered GH�6,000 belonging to the inmates of the prison. Investigations gathered revealed that DSP Atangbe could not account for the said amount at the time he was due for retirement last year. Meanwhile, an amount of GH�4,400 was also said to have been embezzled by two officers who were then stationed at James Fort Prison and Ho in 2008. The officers, whose names were not immediately made available, had custody of the money which belonged to some of the inmates. The Finder can confirm that the two officers, who are still in the service, were made to refund the money when their act was detected. A reliable source who spoke to The Finder said the squandering of money by some prison officers had become rampant in the various prisons. When contacted, the Director of Operations of the Ghana Prisons Service (GPS), Mr Alhassan Legibo, confirmed the story and stated that investigations were ongoing.