By Iddi Yire, GNA
Accra, Nov. 5, GNA – President John Dramani Mahama on Wednesday commissioned the Damongo Camp Prison, which was built and donated to the Ghana Prisons Service by The Church of Pentecost.
The Damongo Camp Prison, which is 300 capacity facility is one of five correctional facilities The Church of Pentecost has committed to constructing for the Ghana Prisons Service to support the rehabilitation and reintegration of inmates into mainstream society post-incarceration.
It is the third of these facilities to be commissioned, following the Ejura and Nsawam Camp Prisons, and holds the distinction of being the first correctional facility in Damongo, the regional capital of the newly created Savannah Region.
President Mahama, in his address, expressed gratitude to Apostle Dr Eric Nyamekye, the Chairman of The Church of Pentecost, the leadership and the membership for providing the Ghana Prisons Service with three state of the arts correctional facilities at Ejura, Nsawam and Damongo.
“On behalf of the Government and People of Ghana, I wish to express our deep gratitude to Apostle Eric Nyamekye, the Chairman of The Church of Pentecost, the leadership and members of the Church of Pentecost, for your faith in humanity, your partnership with the state, your belief in Mandela’s dictum, that ‘society’s greatness is measured by how it treats its most vulnerable citizens’.”
He noted that the project demonstrated what could be achieved when the state, the Church, and the community come together in service to humanity.
“It affirms a timeless truth that nation building is not the sole responsibility of government, but a collective moral endeavour of all who believe in the inherent dignity and potential of every human being”.
He announced that the Government would provide the Damongo Camp Prisons with 66-searer bus to facilitate the movement of staff.
Alhaji Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, the Minister for the Interior and Minister of National Security, said the Damongo Camp Prison facility was a beacon of hope and a testament of the partnership between the state and faith-based organizations.
Apostle Dr Eric Nyamekye, the Chairman of The Church of Pentecost, said the construction of camp prisons was regarded by the Church as a kingdom project designed not only to save souls but also to foster the transformation of society.
Mrs Patience Baffoe-Bonnie, the Director-General of the Ghana Prisons Service, also thanked the Church of Pentecost for honouring its promise to the Service through the five camp prisons project.
This, she said, showed that The Church of Pentecost had gone beyond spiritual ministry to touch lives, both physically and socially.
Yagbonwura Bii-Kunuto Jewusoale I, in a speech read on his behalf, called for religious tolerance among Ghanaians.
GNA