Osamkrom Prison faces accommodation challenge
The Osamkrom Prison Camp in the Gomoa East District in the Central Region is currently facing a huge challenge in terms of accommodation for its inmates.
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The camp, which has an inmate population of 94, can only boast four prison cells which accommodates all inmates.
This has created serious overcrowding and congestion in the cells with its attendant consequences.
An ideal cell, which was expected to house 15 prisoners, is not the case in the camp as a cell is currently being occupied by 29 inmates.
There are few beds in the cells which have left the other inmates with no option than to sleep on mattresses and blankets.
History
The land used as the prison camp was confiscated from Mr B.S.K. Kwakye, a former Inspector General of Police in 1979 and handed over on lease to the Ghana Prisons Service to be used as a settlement camp prison.
It has a total land size of 57.43 acres and engages in food crops and piggery production. The camp has five superior officers and 77 subordinate officers.
It boasts one official barracks occupied by some officers, while 10 other rented barracks at Osamkrom and Agona Swedru are housing the rest of the officers.
The situation at the camp came to light during a visit by the Gomoa East District Chief Executive, Mr Jonamoah Moses Jehu-Appiah and the executive of the Civil and Local Government Staff Association (CLOGSAG) in the Gomoa East District, led by its chairman, Mr Shadrach Hammond.
The visit was to present assorted items worth GH¢1,000 by CLOGSAG to the camp for the upkeep of the inmates as part of this year’s May Day celebration. Items donated included detergents, milk, rice, cooking oil and tomato paste.
State of cells
There is unbearable heat in the cells due to how it was constructed and the absence of proper ventilation in the cells compels the inmates to fan themselves in an attempt to lessen the heat.
In an era where prisoners have become very sophisticated and even manage to break out of jail, the prison camp has just a bamboo fence to prevent the inmates from escaping.
The fence wall is not secured enough and any inmate who decides to break jail can easily do it since the camp is also a few metres away from the Swedru-Accra highway.
Mr Jehu-Appiah was visibly touched by the plight of the inmates and called on the Prisons Service to stop covering its challenges but rather expose them to the public since there were organisations both home and abroad that were ready to support it.
He pledged the assembly’s commitment towards improving the living conditions of the inmates.
In-charge
The officer incharge of the camp, Superintendent Thomas Mills Ayibor, thanked the assembly for its continuous support towards addressing some of the basic needs of the inmates.
He stated that though the ‘Efiase’ project launched by the Prisons Council was yielding results, the service still needed more support from corporate institutions to improve the conditions in the prisons across the country.
He indicated that the GH¢1.80p allocated for the upkeep of an inmate per day was woefully inadequate, noting that the government alone could not address the myriad of challenges facing the service.
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