Crime Check Foundation (CCF), a prison reform organisation, has called for the establishment of a national reintegration policy to help former prisoners rebuild their lives and reduce re-offending through employment, housing and community support.
It said although many inmates acquired educational qualifications and vocational skills while serving their sentences, they continued to face rejection from employers, landlords and families after their release, thus undermining efforts to reform and rehabilitate them.
The foundation made the call at its maiden National Ex-Convicts Conference in Accra to mark 10 years of its establishment.
The confrence was on the theme: “Rebuilding life after prison: Effective reintegration for a better society”.
The conference provided a platform for former prisoners to share their experiences, examine legal and social barriers to reintegration, and to develop a roadmap towards a coordinated national policy.
Job creation campaign
A major outcome of the conference was the launch of the “Employ One Returning Citizen” campaign, which calls on employers with vacancies to hire at least one qualified person who has served a prison sentence.
The foundation also proposed a “New Beginning Village”, a transitional facility to connect returning citizens with counselling, skills development and employment opportunities.
Societal rejection
The Executive Director and Convener of CCF, Ibrahim Oppong Kwarteng, said thousands of people left Ghanaian prisons every year after serving their sentences, only to face continued punishment through societal rejection.
He cited the foundation’s research, which indicated that Ghana had more than 14,000 prisoners, about 80 per cent of who were below 35 years.
Mr Kwarteng also cited findings that said 60 per cent of released prisoners re-offended within a year, with 90 per cent of landlords refusing to rent to former inmates, while 85 per cent of employers discarded their job applications.
He also proposed a dedicated reintegration fund, district reintegration committees and a confidential database to track returning citizens’ skills and the effectiveness of support programmes.
Alternatives
The Director, Policy Planning, Budgeting, Monitoring and Evaluation, Ministry of the Interior, Enock Boadu Amo, said the government was working to move the criminal justice system beyond incarceration to rehabilitation and successful reintegration.
He said the Community Service Act, 2026 (Act 1175) and the Prison Service Parole Regulations, 2026 (C.I. 142), provided alternatives to imprisonment for eligible offenders, helping to ease overcrowding while allowing them to retain their livelihoods where possible.
Skills training
The Director of Prisons in charge of Operations and Facility Management, Benedict Bob-Dery, said the Prisons Service provided vocational training in carpentry, masonry, tailoring, welding, leatherworks and electrical installation, alongside agriculture, education, counselling and entrepreneurial training.
