General News of Monday, 8 October 2018
Source: kasapafmonline.com
2018-10-08
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Inmates at the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons have sent an SOS message to President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the Miniter for the Interior, to as a matter of urgency, set up an independent body to probe the wife snatching allegations brought against prisons officers at Nsawam.
The inmates also want a Parliamentary inquiry established into the issue since many of them are slowly dying out of fear of losing their wives.
According to the inmates, it is only an independent committee that could help ascertain the veracity or otherwise of the allegation of wife snatching leveled against some prisons officers at the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons.
“For the nation to ascertain the truth, we are appealing to the President of Ghana, the Interior Minister and Parliament to set up an independent committee to come into the Nsawam Prisons yard and interact with the prisoners from Block to Block even up to the condemn prisoners one by one without any prisons officer or Blackquote following them and see whether we are telling the truth or not. We don’t trust the people who have been mandated by the Prisons authorities to do a good job”, one of the inmates who spoke to kasapafmonline.com on condition of anonymity noted.
Some of the inmates have accused some prison officers of taking their wives from them when they come around to visit them.
According to the inmates, they would have no option to address their grievance than to embark on massive demonstration in the prison yard which will be very difficult for anybody to control them, should their call for the removal of the leadership of the facility falls on deaf ears.
The inmates contend that they are bent on triggering their option since the leadership of the prisons have for some time now been treating them unfairly.
“One of the in-charge officers (name withheld) has been exchanging telephone numbers with our wives when they come around to visit us. He will then call to propose to them and will end up telling them all manner of things. Most of us here, our marriages are on the rocks because of these officers. They are supposed to be professionals but their actions have proven otherwise. The authorities have to change them immediately”, one of the inmates speaking on condition of anonymity told Kasapafmonline.com, Saturday, September 29, 2018.
To the inmates, they have endured these “unfortunate incidents” for some time now but cannot allow it to go on again.
However, speaking to Kasapa News, the Chief Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Prisons Service, Superintendent Vitalis Ayeh stated that the Service which is known for upholding professional and ethical standards, takes such issues very seriously and will investigate to establish the truth or otherwise of it.
“…Nsawam as I speak to you they’ve also heard it and they’ve put in place a team to investigate this matter. The Officer-in-Charge has put up a complaints desk and called the inmate leadership this morning and have asked them to tell any inmate who has such complaint about an officer to come forward and give up the name of the said officer engaged in this sort of thing. If you want to be anonymous you can write that officer A or B is doing this to my wife and it will be dealt with.
“As far as I know, morally it is wrong, religiously it is wrong for somebody to take another man’s wife. If it is wrong outside the same thing is wrong within the prisons as well.”
Superintendent Vitalis Ayeh noted that any prisons officer found guilty will be severely dealt with according to law to serve as a deterrent to other erring officers.
But the inmates say they have no trust in the body set up by the leadership of the Prisons Service, preferring instead, an independent body set up by the President and or Parliament to inquire into the matter.