The government has announced an increase in the daily feeding fee for prisoners, raising it from GH¢1.80 to GH¢5
The Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak said this adjustment will be captured in the 2026 Budget.
He made the disclosure on Tuesday, September 30, during a sitting of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament.
Members of the committee described the current GH¢1.80 allocation, which has remained unchanged since 2010, as inadequate for providing three meals a day to inmates.
The Director-General of Ghana Prisons Service (GPS), Mrs. Patience Baffoe-Bonnie, speaking to the Committe said President John Dramani Mahama has approved the upward adjustment of GHC5 per inmate daily.
Mrs. Baffoe-Bonnie was quick to add that though the increments from Ghc1.50p have been approved, funds are yet to be released.
She revealed that until recently, prison authorities were managing just GHC1.80 per day to feed each inmate, an amount she described as grossly inadequate.
The Director-General of Prisons made this revelation when she appeared before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament on Tuesday, September 30, 2025.
Mrs. Baffoe-Bonnie cautioned that poor feeding remains a major cause of unrest in Ghana’s prisons.
“Once the feeding is wrong, it has ripple effects on health and every other thing; we are working assiduously to ensure the rules change. We are hopeful the GHC5 a day will be increased in the course of 2026 to reflect the feeding regime for a disgruntled adult, an angry adult behind bars,” she said.
Mrs. Baffoe-Bonnie further explained that prison authorities currently rely on their own gardens, a small fish pond, and donations from churches to supplement food supplies.
She maintained that inadequate feeding often sparks riots, putting prison officers at serious risk.
“We have to note on this platform that one of the things that is giving cause for inmates to riot is food. And so, we do everything within our means to ensure that as much as possible, we’re containing the inmates without the riots. Because if there are any riots, the poor prison officer becomes the first point of attack before any intervention,” Mrs. Baffoe-Bonnie stressed.
Beyond the issue of feeding, Mrs. Baffoe-Bonnie called for broader reforms to improve prison conditions and emphasised that inmate welfare is essential to national security.
“If we want to have serious public safety in this country, we have to prioritise the needs of prisoners. Because they’re part of us, they will be with us, and we don’t know who will be our next guest,” she stated.
