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The lawyer and the prisoner’s daughter; A tale of human kindness
Twenty-four- year old Rosemary Addo is currently pursuing a master’s degree in chemistry at the University of Illinois in the United States of America due to the kindhearted support of Mrs. Sarah Mary Asante, a lawyer and restaurateur. Miss Addo is very likely to continue with her PhD at the same university because she is doing very well, thanks to a scholarship she is enjoying.
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The story of how the daughter of a prisoner got the support of a lawyer to further her education reveals the depths of human understanding and kindness. It did not start on a good note. In a chat in Accra recently with The Mirror, Mrs. Asante narrated how she met Miss Addo.
It started when Ibrahim Dauda, Miss Addo’s father who is serving a 60-year sentence for car snatching tried to defraud the lawyer even from prison. He placed a scammer call popularly known as a “419 call” to the lawyer but the latter knew his intent and engaged him in a conversation during which she got him to come clean.
He explained to her that he was a prisoner trying to support his bright daughter through her education. He told her that his daughter was studying Chemistry at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, (KNUST), with virtually no support.
Ibrahim Dauda, an inmate at the Nsawam Prison whose daughter is studying in the US and recieving support from Mrs Asante's FJI
Mrs. Asante did not believe him and asked that his daughter call her. That call started their relationship which culminated in the daughter’s study abroad. The unlikely alliance between the prisoner and the lawyer led the latter to take on the responsibility for Miss Addo’s education at KNUST and later finding support for her to pursue more educational laurels abroad.
Father and daughter are thankful to the institution which granted her the scholarship to pursue further studies outside the country. One person they are eternally grateful to and virtually worship is Mrs Asante, who paid for Miss Addo’s ticket and has been giving her a living allowance for a year and a half since she has been in the university.
Last Friday, Dauda had the opportunity to talk to his daughter on a whatsApp video call on Mrs. Asante’s phone when she visited him in prison. The first question Miss Addo asked was: “Daddy, are you out?”
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Visibly overwhelmed by emotions, all Dauda did was to shake his head. He just stared at his daughter, his back against the prison wall and with tears welled up in his eyes.
Dauda is not the only inmate Mrs. Asante has supported. She is a regular visitor to the Nsawam Medium Security Prison where she helps the inmates in many ways. Ten years ago, when she started a project at that prison, her initial visits earned her sleepless nights.
Mrs. Asante could hardly shut her eyes to the many sad stories she saw and heard from the inmates. This led her to start the Fair Justice Initiative (FJI), a non-governmental organisation. As a little girl, Mrs. Asante was known for being assertive, standing up for her rights and could not countenance cheating in any form. It came as no surprise, therefore, to her parents when she chose the legal profession.
Pro bono cases
In court one day during her pupillage 10 years ago, Mrs. Asante, then Miss Adetola, met a suspect, Ismael Clottey, on a charge of armed robbery. She could tell from his demeanour that he was not aware of the gravity of his charges. He had no legal representation. Her chat with the suspect revealed that he had chanced on his girlfriend with another man, stripped her naked while holding a screw driver, and took her underwear away after a fight. That had landed him in police cells and in the court.
She founded the Fair Justice Initiative to advocate for change, provide legal representation and offer support to incarcerated persons in Ghana
Mrs. Asante offered to represent Clottey in court without charging any fees, a practice known as “pro bono”. Clottey was, however, convicted, but she has maintained contact with him until today even though he has finished serving his sentence.
She explained that her passion to help such people became more intense from that day. She, therefore, founded FJI while at the Ampem Chambers (Barristers and Solicitors), which became the chamber’s corporate social responsibility project.
The FJI and the passion to help people who got entangled with the law is what has made Mrs. Asante a friend of inmates at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison.
The NGO aims at combating discrimination and prejudice against current and former inmates, ensuring equal access to effective legal representation and improving the conditions of confinement in Ghanaian prisons.
It has three areas of operation: Advocacy, Legal Services and Quality of Life and Vocation.
Advocacy
FJI advocates greater accountability within the country’s criminal justice system and the removal of barriers to fair justice faced by those lacking in economic, educational and social resources.
It works with the government and prison service to bring about positive policy change and advocate in particular for the abolition of the death penalty.
Legal Services
The NGO seeks to improve understanding of the judicial system and individual rights by providing high-quality legal advice and representation for the socially and economically marginalised at all stages of their interaction with the criminal justice system.
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It, therefore, holds legal aid clinics at the Nsawam Prison to provide an opportunity to review individual case files, an understanding of their legal cases and to enable the making of informed choices.
Quality of Life and Vocation
FJI also provides care packages containing basic requirements for a humane existence and financially assists with medical support that may otherwise be inaccessible to individuals within a prison setting.
It also collaborates with local artists, academics and business entrepreneurs to deliver skills workshops in an otherwise inaccessible environment.
Mrs. Asante showed The Mirror some hand sanitisers and face masks some of the inmates had made for sale to support themselves as a result of a skills training organised by the FJI, saying those were in addition to other products such as fascinators, hats, face masks and soap.
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An inmate at the Nsawam Prisons who is a beneficiary of FJI's skills training, explaining how face masks are produced
She has one more dream she is hoping to fulfil; that is building a half-way house. A half-way house is a place where prisoners or people with mental health problems stay after they leave prison or hospital and before they start to live on their own.
Mrs. Asante has this dream because she finds that most ex-convicts are unable to get well integrated in society as a result of their new environment and because of stigmatisation by society sometimes even by their immediate families.
Hobbies
Mrs. Asante loves reading, cooking and has started learning how to ride motorbikes. She says her love for cooking was nursed in her grandmother’s kitchen and this blossomed into the establishment of a number of restaurants, including Madam Butterfly in Accra.
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Challenges
Life has not been all rosy for Mrs. Asante. As she recalls : “I have also encountered some challenges. One such time was when I failed my Corporate Law examination and had to rewrite the paper. It was a course I did not like but I passed after I wrote again.”
The FJI partners with GIZ tp conduct in-prison courses that focuses on improving the mental health of prisoners
The sight of children visiting their parents continues to stir emotions in Mrs. Asante, and watching babies and toddlers with their mothers in prison does worse. Her thoughts are often on how to make life a little more bearable for prisoners and ex-convicts.
Education
Mrs. Asante is a Senior Associate of the Ampem Chambers. She graduated from the University of Ghana where she did her Bachelor of Laws (LLB) in 2006, Ghana School of Law in 2011 and the Wesleyan College in the United States of America where she passed out with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and Communication. She attended the Ghana International School.
Family
The lawyer was born on September 5, 1984 to Mr. Sammy Adetola, a banker from Tarkwa in the Western Region, and Mrs. Elizabeth Adetola, a biochemist from Koforidua in the Eastern Region. She is the first of three children. She is married to Nana Asante Bediatuo, a lawyer and Executive Secretary to the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. They have five children.
When asked about her impact and contribution to society, Mrs. Asante responded by saying, “I believe my purpose in life is to help others and I feel fulfilled when I do so. I am particularly happy about Miss Addo because she is such a hardworking girl who is not abusing the chance she has been given and is making a lot of progress. I am so eager to do more.”
Writer’s E-mail: [email protected]/[email protected]