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Pulse goes inside the Ho Central Prison
Across penitentiaries in Ghana over-congestion, inadequate feeding, poor sanitation and dilapidated facilities are the norm. Alice Adu discovers the plight of prisoners at Ho Central.
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I have been privileged to visit about three prisons in the country: the Medium Security prison in Nsawam (Eastern region), the and the Ho Central Prison in the Volta region.
As at the times of my visit, the had a population of 3,362 male and 67 female inmates; the Tamale Prison housed 461 male and 9 female inmates; while the Ho Prison contained 521 male and 11 female inmates.
Throughout these penitentiaries, the challenges were similar: over-congestion, inadequate feeding, poor sanitation, dilapidated facilities. These are all issues that are meant to be the responsibility of the government, which owns and controls these prisons. But the solutions have not been forthcoming for years, and the little that is done has not been enough to improve conditions.
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On November 22, I visited the Ho Central Prison in the Volta region.
The Minister of the Interior, Prosper Douglas Bani - with an entourage of top security officials like the Inspector General of Police, John Kudalor, Prisons Director, Mr. Emmanuel Adzator, NADMO Coordinator, Brigadier General Vib Sanziri, took his peace campaign message to the region and the prisons was clearly one of the places he had to go. As part of the media contingent I was there to report.
The Ho Central Prison is located at the Wader quarters along the residency road, opposite the Ho Municipal Hospital, where most people would refer to as Ho-Bankoe. It is a heavily-walled facility, with four flags erected in front, decorating a spacious car park.
We arrived at the Prison around 3pm in the afternoon. The Prison officers were already in parade at the entrance of the yard waiting for the Minister to conduct an inspection on them while the entourage waited patiently before we had to enter. It was the norm, a necessary protocol practice.
Then came the Borborbor (ewe traditional dance) drum beats and songs performed by a traditional troupe to welcome the Minister and his entourage.
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Finally, it was time to enter. I suddenly became nervous, my body bathed in goose-bumps, my feet turning cold, as we made our entry. The environment’s depressing features became visible, steadily sinking in. We saw all 521 male inmates just as we entered, overcrowded at the central part of the Prison’s yard.
After one of the inmates had welcomed us in their local Ewe dialect with a prayer, they went ahead to communicate the problems they face as prisoners.
An inmate spoke with so much passion when he addressed a very notable concern of theirs, the selective nature of the process that results in amnesty for prisoners - he said that most inmates deserving of the Presidential Prerogative of Mercy are still behind bars because of the unfair process of selection. He spoke so eloquently that I believe he could easily pass for a P.R.O for a corporate institution or a presenter at a media house, yet here he was, his talent wasting away in Ho because of a mistake he’d made in his life. He had been incarcerated 10 years for the crime of theft.
The Prison Director, Emmanuel Adzator told the prisoners that he is looking forward to seeing many of them reform. Addressing the problem of congestion, he noted that it isn’t a challenge exclusive to only the Ho Prison. He assured them that the feeding challenge was the subject of government concern, with an effort being made to solve it. He said he was very happy prisoners are being given a chance to exercise their voting rights, entreating all of them to exercise their right to choose the next President of the Nation.
It was now the turn of the Interior Minister to interact with them. He walked from his seat and entered where the inmates were (there was a half wall dividing the contingent from the inmates) to interact with them.
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“I am very happy to be with you here this afternoon, I consider most of you to be my brothers but it is unfortunate you are here and you are here because of the laws of the country. The government is not interested in keeping anybody here, it is not easy for me anytime I have to see you,” he said.
He urged them to be prayerful and to exhibit good conduct while under incarceration.
Mr. Bani assured them of Government's commitment to improving the living standards in the prisons across the country. He informed them of Government putting up an 800 unit Remand Prison block in Nsawam to ease the congestion. “There are also courts in there so you don't have to go all the way to Accra to be tried,” he added.
It was time for us to leave to see the females, but before we left, the Officer in charge appealed to the Minister that the usual “trend” which was inmates coming back to the prison a few months after their release has subsided because of the quality of counseling they take them through, so the government should employ more counselors and religious heads to effectively counsel the inmates.
Hopefully this will stop another "trend" I have heard of, where inmates would grow farms or rear livestock in prison only to be released when it’s close to harvest season. And so they go home only to deliberately commit a crime that would bring them back to enjoy the fruits of their labor.
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The female prison is a few minutes’ walk from the males. The gate at the entrance is not as huge as that of the males’, and I’m thinking it’s because the women are not perceived to be as dangerous as the men. During my first ever visit a female prison, I tried so hard to hold back my tears and I was hoping for the strength to endure the palpable pain here as well.
Their yard is not as big as the males' but it’s definitely better kept. You are met with a big blue barrel of water which I heard serves as a source when the taps are not running. The compound has an assembly hall, kitchen, toilet and bath as well as one big room where all eleven female inmates of the prison sleep.
They were smartly dressed with their long blue dresses, white tops and their blue scarves, seated calmly awaiting our arrival. The first woman I saw brought tears in my eyes. She was a 34- year old pregnant woman almost due judging from how distended her stomach was.
I was inquisitive enough to ask what crimes this innocent women had committed. The officer in charge, was kind enough to also assist me with my findings, “hmmm, this pregnant woman went stealing with the husband, she's supposed to pay 3,600 or serve four years imprisonment,” she confined. I wanted to know further so I enquired of her husband and she said “he is at the male prison.”
The second woman I saw was just 18 years old and she was also in prison for stealing and thus serving 3 years. I shook my head knowing how difficult it would be for her to be dwelling with these older women.
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The third I enquired was a Nigerian caught trafficking a Ghanaian child and she's serving 10 years in prison, her sentence was the highest. Now enough of the interrogation, I needed to listen to what the minister had for them and their pleas.
One of them (Ama) was ask to start with a prayer which she said powerfully, then added her own plea to the minister.
“Minister we are very happy you have joined us here today, I know I have wronged society but I would plead you consider me. My husband is blind and I am not physically stable myself, my children are young and there is no one to take care of them, please consider me,” she pleaded.
On behalf of her colleagues, she asked the minister to help the female prison with a “flat screen TV, refrigerator and a fan,” these three things were their main concerns apart from the fact that they wanted to go home.
Once again, I asked what she had done and I was told she fought with a woman she suspected her husband was having an affair with and she hurt her really bad.
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They took turns to introduce themselves and when they were done, the minister spoke.
“My sisters, I have just two things to say today. I have heard your pleas and next week you will get your television, with the fridge and fan I will work on it for you to have it as soon as possible,” he assured them.
They clapped in excitement to show appreciation to his kind words. It was time to go but one woman caught my attention. She was sitting at the back quietly; she neither smiled nor participated like the others. So I wanted to know what had brought this innocent-looking young girl there and what I found out will surprise you.
Named Kabillah, I learned she ended up here after she was with a group of men that had robbed a business tycoon at Pig Farm in Accra.
According to the officer, the inmate was the one holding the weapons distributing them to her gang. She was only 19 years old.
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“Goodbye my sister, can you please dash me two cedis?” One of them asked with pity.
I looked inside my purse and gave her 10 cedis, she jumped with joy and said “’akpe” meaning ‘thank you’ in Ewe language.
I stood close to the main entrance but I could see their kitchen, their rooms and their surroundings, it was very kept, unlike the other prisons I had visited.
When will they go home and reunite with their families, I quizzed myself as we made our way outside for our next meeting.
And one thing I thought, although prisons are meant to house criminals, conditions there shouldn’t be that inhuman- as is the case in most Ghanaian correction facilities because prisoners are humans too.
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