23 December 2011
editorial
A couple of days ago, Ghana Television showed a documentary about the current state of the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons. According to officials who spoke to the National Broadcaster, the prison, which was built to accommodate a little over 10,000 inmates, now has more than doubled the capacity, making it impossible for the prisoners to have proper accommodation.
Apart from Nsawam, reports from other parts of the country indicate that the prisons are over-crowded. In fact, in some of the prisons, the inmates, especially those on remand, sleep on top of each other. Human right groups and other civil society organisations have, on many occasions, expressed concern over the development going on in our prisons, and called for reforms.
They have also asked the courts to sentence suspects found guilty of minor criminal cases to do community work, instead of sending them to jail. It is sad to say that the judiciary has not heeded this call, and continues to pack our prisons with law breakers, who could have been asked to do community service as a form of punishment.
The Chronicle is, however, happy that the Koforidua Circuit Court, presided over by Madam Wilhelmina Hammond, has responded to the call by the human rights groups, and sentenced two people to sweep the court premises for four weeks, after finding them guilty of the offence they were charged with.
According to report, which was carried by the Ghanaian Times yesterday, two people hacked into the Ghana Post computers, and generated a pass code to indicate that someone had transferred money from Tarkwa to a friend to cash in Koforidua.
Through this process, the two were able to withdraw GH ¢1,500, but were latter arrested and put before court. To be honest, the conduct of the two convicts was a serious crime, which should have merited a custodial sentence, but looking at the current stake of the prisons, The Chronicle thinks the judge took the right decision by asking the duo to sweep the court premises for four weeks.
Most of the gutters in Accra and other parts of the country are choked, and we could have used this non-custodial sentence of convicts to address them. If someone is arrested for stealing a goat, plantain, or engage in other minor offences, if sentenced to sweep the streets in his village or town for specific period, it would be enough deterrent to others, because of the embarrassment accompanying the punishment.
Government should not be using the tax payer’s money to feed someone who has committed such a minor offence in prison. It is the hope of The Chronicle that the Chief Justice would take up this issue, and advice judges and magistrates of the courts to resort to this non-custodial sentence in minor criminal offences, in the interest of the country. We, once again, commend Madam Hammond for the wise decision she took.
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