Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia says construction of the Remand Prison which is about 70 percent complete is expected to ease congestion at the Medium security prisons at Nsawam.
Speaking at the Intake28 Officer Cadet Graduation Ceremony in Accra, Vice President Bawumia reiterated government’s commitment to address challenges in the Prisons Service and also help build their capacity to enable them to execute their mandate in line with international standards.
He announced that contractors have also resumed work on the complex for officers to address their accommodation challenges.
He charged the Prison Officers to uphold ideals of the Service and not focus on meting out punishment to prisoners but help to reform them and build their talents.
The Officer Cadets Course of the Ghana Prisons Service is run to prepare personnel into senior officers. The 28th Officer Cadets who graduated consist of 198 officers—129 males and 69 females—from various Tertiary institutions with diverse academic and professional background including Accounting, Health and Engineering.
The Officers were taken through a 4-month rigorous training drill and formal courses on Penal Law, Corrections Management, and Computation of inmates sentences among others.
Vice President Bawumia said health issues in the Prisons Service continue to remain a priority of government. It is for this reason that government is upgrading health facilities in the Prisons to meet their health needs.
Statistics show that more than 2,000 inmates in the various prisons have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia announced that government will grant amnesty to deserving inmates on the advice of the Council of State to decongest the prisons.
Senior Under Officer Samuel Yankey took home the Sword of Honor which is the overall best Officer Award. The Academic Cane Award went to Junior Under Officer Ivy Asantewaa Koranteng with Junior Under Officer Siaw Appiah receiving the Commandant’s Award.
