COVID19: 31 prisoners freed in Western Region

The Ghana Prisons Service, Western Region, has freed a total of thirty-one prisoners. The prisoners, who are all males, were freed from all the seven centers in the region. Fifteen of them are from the Sekondi Central prisons, four were freed from the Ekwasi camp prison, three from Tarkwa and nine from the Hiawa Camp Prison. The process was activated following the president’s special pardon to some eight hundred and eight prisoners in the country.

The president on Thursday March 26, 2020 granted official amnesty to 808 prisoners. This was based on recommendations from the Prison Service Council, with support from the council of state. The list included 11 seriously ill prisoners, 783 first time offenders who had served half of their sentences, and three aged prisoners.

Western Region Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Prisons Service, Nii Adjetey Cyriano commended the President for the decision. He however indicated that the number of prisoners freed in the Western Region, even though commendable, has low impact on the congested nature of the prisons.

“We are appreciative of the amnesty granted by the President, but the number is not enough to decongest the prisons. However, we have put through another set of names to be considered for another Presidential pardon which we are expecting happens soon.

Asked why none of the released prisoners was a female, Mr. Adjetey Cyriano indicated that “we sent names of a total of 16 female prisoners, however all the 16 had completed their jail term before the amnesty was granted so no female prisoner benefited from the Presidential pardon. But most of them will be considered in the names presented for the next amnesty.”