Mr Jonathan Osei Owusu, Executive Director, POS Foundation, has commended the Ghana Prisons Service for the preemptive protocols adopted, which has contributed significantly towards safeguarding the security of prisoners and ensuring their overall well- being in this era of COVID-19.
The professionalism, strict adherence to precautionary Security protocols and contingency plans put in place by Service which includes a health alert communicated regularly to the inmates have worked to prevent and contain the spread of Covid-19.
“What would have been the situation if there was an outbreak in our prison with this huge congestion without the said Protocols; the Cost on the State, riot and perhaps jailbreak, insecurity, and a threat to National Security and chaos, instability, and loss of confidence in the system.”
Mr Osei Owusu made this observation when the Foundation, facilitators of the Justice For All Programme together with its funding Agencies GIZ/German Cooperation and Open Society Foundation/OSIWA under the COVID-19 Prisons Response Outreach Project donated PPE to the Kumasi Central Prisons.
The Foundation also supported them with cotton materials for the production of about one million face masks by prison inmates for the prisons and families of prison officers in support of the hard work by Prison Service towards the prevention of COVID-19 in Prisons.
The items include Vitamin C, veronica buckets, automated handwashing machine, and liquid soaps, bins, tissue, gloves, some food items worth GHc 41,000, and a cash cheque of GHc2,000 to be used as transportation for onward distribution of some items to Manhyia and Amanfrom local Prisons.
Mr Osei Owusu said managing crisis such as a pandemic of this nature was an onerous task since the least miscommunication amongst the prison population could lead to a very chaotic situation.
“The only case recorded so far in Prison was that of a newly admitted inmate at the Ankaful Maximum Prison which is among the seven designated prisons across the country designated to receive new admission for monitoring before inmates are transferred to a traditional Prison that has so far recorded none.”
He said from the Foundation’s experience of work in prisons, they had always known that the plight of the Ghanaian Prisoner was the same as the Prison Officer, what affects one affected all.
“Ghana Prisons in its way of managing the pandemic paid critical attention to Officers, visitors, and new admissions. For instance, Officers are to adhere to strict protocol even when they are out of the prison facility, visitors have some hygiene protocols made available to them on entry into the facility with some restrictions while some prisons across Ghana have been selected to accommodate only new admissions.
This is in line with protecting major prisons where the congestion rate is high such as Nsawam Medium Security Prisons and Central Prisons such as Kumasi, Sunyani, Koforidua etc.”
He said Prison Officers undoubtedly play a pivotal role as Frontline workers and therefore appealed to Government to provide incentives and contagious disease allowance for Officers for the dedication, professionalism, and health risk taken in these crucial times.
He also entreated the Prison authority and all officers to safeguard the good record and continuously adhere to the strict protocols, saying, though there was gradual ease of restrictions by the State for the Public, they must remain resolute as they celebrated their success story.
He again called on other organizations to come to the aid of Prisons as these items were shared with prison inmates, prison officers, and visitors.
He said the Foundation had earlier donated similar items to the Nsawam Medium Security prisons and would replicate the same at Tamale Central and Navrongo Local Prisons, and Sunyani Central Prisons.
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