RE : TENSION IN PRISONS SERVICE OVER VICTIMIZATION OF OFFICERS
The attention of the Prisons Service has been drawn to the publications in the Monday 25th January, 2016 edition of the New Statesman newspaper captioned “Tension in Prisons Service Over Victimization of Officers” and gain in the New Crusading GUIDE on Tuesday 26th January, 2016 edition captioned “Prisons Officers Go Wild ……Cited DG for Witch Hunting and abuse of power ‘over alleged promotion irregularities and transfers of Officers in the service.
We wish to state that the facts on the ground are contrary to what the papers published and that the Prisons Service is guided by rules and regulations, which it operates with.
On promotions, Article 208 section 1 of the 1992 Constitution has it that, the Prisons Service Council shall advise the President on matters of policy relating to the organization and maintenance of the Prison system in Ghana, including the administration and the promotion of officers above the rank of Assistant Director of Prisons (ADP).
Since the year 2013, the Prisons Service Council has screened Officers entering these rank by placing them before a Promotion Advisory Board made up of its members and a representative from the Public Service Commission. The Director – General is just one member of this Promotions Advisory Board.
It is based on the recommendations of the Board to the President that has informed promotions in the service. The Director – General of Prisons has no direct influence on who should be promoted to a higher position, but it is the performance of the officers and the recommendations by the Advisory Board that determines their promotion and placements.
Again, Sections 80 and 81 of the Prisons Service Scheme guide the promotion of officers to the ranks below Assistant Director of Prisons. These sections are clear on how promotions are done in the service. The Director –General of Prisons has never unilaterally promoted anyone. These sections of the Scheme, as to who qualifies to be promoted, have guided her.
Under the Scheme of Service, the Promotion Advisory Board, made of the Deputy Director – General (Administration), very senior and subordinates officers, screen eligible officers,and it is based on their recommendations that promotions are made. The records are there for all to see. The Director – General as individual has no authority to promote anyone.
On transfers, records available show that most transfers between 2013 – 2015 have been done based on exigencies of the Service, such as the officers who were implicated on February 2015 near jailbreak in Kumasi and officers who have the habit of attempting to carry contrabands into the prison facility.
Other transfers have been on compassionate grounds like sick officers being brought nearer home to their relatives or married couples being placed at the same station. Such transfers are based on the requests from the affected officers and are referred by the Director – General to the Director responsible for administration to take action. When such officers are moved, the Administration has to replace them, by transferring other officers to fill those vacancies.
In every institution, there are always bound to be changes, which changes will always affect people one way or the other. Over the past three years, measures have been put in place to build a decent service with disciplined and hardworking officers to move the service forward.
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