The public relations officer of Koforidua Prison, Godfred Apeatu Amponsah, has bemoaned that the 350-capacity facility is now in excess of about 600 inmates and serves about 22 courts in the Eastern Region.
As part of activities to mark this year’s International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on 26 June, Amponsah addressed students at Koforidua Technical Institute urging them to desist from the use of illicit drugs and engaging in related activities.
His call comes as part of efforts to advocate against drug-related crimes.
The chief executive officer of Own Your Future Foundation, Isaac Osafo Benson, bemoaned the increasing rate of youth involvement, especially senior high school students, in illicit drugs. He called for drastic measures to address the menace.
He said the situation is getting worse although he does not have the relevant data.
A prisoner of the Koforidua Prison who is serving a term for trafficking drugs shared his experience at the prison, saying it is “hell” to be there. He urged the students to desist from taking illicit drugs.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Prisons Service has called on Parliament to expedite the passage of the Non-Custodial Bill into law.
Shelved for nearly a decade, the bill, among others, seeks to change the course of offenders’ behaviour by instilling in them a sense of moral obligation to their communities.
Besides its purpose of decongesting the prisons, it would also ensure that offenders such as parents and caregivers would carry out their punishments without being separated from their families for years, as is the case under the custodial sentencing system.
The bill, is an alternative to a custodial sentence for convicted offenders of some crimes and would see offenders rendering unpaid public work within a community for a period not exceeding the term of imprisonment for which the court had sentenced them.
Reporting by John Attafuah in the Eastern Region
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