The number of inmates at the Nsawam Prisons who developed the interest to further their studies to the tertiary level increased when the former National Coordinator of the defunct Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA) was serving his jail term there.
According to the former Member of Parliament for the Chiana-Paga constituency, Abuga Pele, he was the headmaster of the Nsawam Prisons Senior High School.
During his 3 years in jail, Mr. Pele said his contribution as headmaster of the Nsawam Prisons SHS saw the number of inmates who developed the interest to further their education through distance program with the University of Cape Coast increased from about 153 to 300.
He made this disclosure when he was welcomed home at Nakolo after he was granted a presidential pardon. Speaking for the first time after his release from prison, Mr. Pele who said he was a coach for a young football team, believes that his sentence to the Nsawam prisons was not a punishment but he was sent there to learn.
“I was not incarcerated, I was not put in prison. You are only put in prison if your mind accepts or allows it. I was taken there to learn. The people in prison are my younger brothers, my sisters, and my fathers. Some of them needed help, maybe God sent me there to help them. I became the headmaster of the school that produced graduates, they do distance courses from Cape Coast. I was a coach for the young football team. I took the opportunity to entertain the whole prison. The number of prison inmates who attended school grew from almost 153 to almost 300 when I was there. I thank God I was able to contribute a small aspect of love to those unfortunate souls there”.
The former GYEEDA boss was sentenced to 6 years in jail alongside a businessman, Philip Assibit who was also sentenced to 12 years in jail on February 23, 2018, for their involvement in a GHc4.1 million GYEEDA scandal.
But Mr. Pele was granted a presidential pardon on July 1, 2021, on health grounds after serving 3 years in jail.
Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1Mhz|Joshua Asaah
