Ho Prison advocates non-custodial sentences
THE Ho Central Prison, unable to cope with the ever-growing number of prisoners, has called for non-custodial sentences to help reduce the congestion in the cells.
According to the authorities of the correctional centre, the slow pace at which some criminal cases were dragging before the law courts has also contributed largely to the dreadful congestion in the jail.
As at last week, there were about 88 remand prisoners among the 574 inmates of the prison which has a capacity of only 150.
Assistant Director of Prison (ADP) in-charge of the Volta Region, Martin Darku cited the case of one inmate who has been on remand for the past six years while facing trial for murder.
He said in an exclusive interview with the Ghanaian Times that many other remand prisoners have been at the facility for four to five years for crimes including, attempted murder, rape, illegal abortion, stealing and robbery among others.
ADP Darku attributed the slow pace of trials at the courts to the lack of adequate judges in the region, saying the recent death of the one of the two High Court Judges in Ho has compounded the problem.
ADP Darku explained that remand prisoners were not convicts but needed to be fed in the prison and so they relied on the little ration for the convicts.
The congestion at the Ho Central Prison and the unending overflow of the toilets therein sparked a massive public outcry in recent time.
With no room to stretch their legs in the cells, some prisoners sleep squatting while others spend the nights standing.
The death of one remand prisoner about a month ago had raised the public outcry to greater heights.
The Ghana Bar Association in the Volta Region had pledged to have some of the cases of the convicts reviewed to help to decongest the prison.
The efforts of the association suffered as setback with the death of the chairman, Mr Michael Glover, some weeks ago.
Meanwhile, the stench from the overflowing toilets of the prison is making life unbearable for some residents of Ho-Bankoe.
FROM ALBERTO MARIO NORETTI, HO
