Fourteen (14) deserving inmates of the Navrongo Central Prisons in the Upper East Region have been granted amnesty as part of government’s initiative to decongest the prisons.
The 14 are part of a total of 794 inmates across the country, President Nana Addo Akufo-Addo granted amnesty.
The president’s amnesty seeks to mitigate the dangers posed by congestions in the prisons especially in the wake of the novel coronavirus.
The Director General of the Ghana Prisons, Patrick Missah in a statement said 772 of the inmates were first offenders, 16 very old prisoners and 4 seriously ill inmates.
Speaking to A1 News, Public Relations Officer of the Navrongo central prisons, Deputy Superintendent of Prisons (DSP) Nyampkani Alhassan, said, the 14 inmates discharged from the Navrongo prisons were serving various petty offences ranging from stealing, unlawful entering, dishonesty receiving and causing harm.
He indicated that, the 14 were all first time offenders serving a prison sentence ranging from 16 months to 6 years.
DSP Nyamkpani added that skills training were offered to the inmates such that they will not be motivated to commit these crimes again.
“We have tried our best in training them in soap making and smock weaving and like those who are gone on discharge, most of them have gone through this training.
The only challenge that we have is that, sometimes when they go out, how to get the start-up is our problem. So we call on NGOs to help in that aspect to settle them at home”.
He appealed to their relatives and the public not to stigmatize them but rather support them cope with life.
“It is expected that the public will receive them devoid of stigma after they have paid the price of their wrongdoing”.
Source:|A1radioonline.com|101.1MHZ|Joshua Asaah|Ghana
