…calls for immediate reforms
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Posted: Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Former Trade Minister under the Jerry Rawlings regime and incumbent Member of Parliament for Keta, Mr. Dan Abodakpi yesterday shared some lofty thoughts about his experience at the Nsawam security medium prison with Joy Fm’s ‘Super Morning show host, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah.
This was after several weeks of refusing to grant audience to the media to enable him organise a befitting funeral and burial for his late mother, who he drew inspiration from, even when serving his jail term.
Mr. Abodakpi could simply not comprehend why the country’s prisons are still in deplorable conditions since time immemorial.
He also wondered why some of the major politicians in the country have had to serve time in Ghanaian prisons for one reason or the other, and yet they have done very little or virtually nothing to improve the conditions that exist there.
“I was surprised at the conditions I saw and I was surprised also that many people have passed through the walls of those prisons, found themselves in government and have little thought for the conditions there, I think its unfortunate and I am not going to forget that experience. I will impress upon my party to do a lot to improve the conditions in the prisons and I will mount my own personal crusade to ensure that we do all we can to improve the prison conditions,”he said.
He painted a gloomy picture of the conditions that exist in the Nsawam prison where he served one-year three months out of his 10year jail term, which was remitted by President Kufuor.
According to him, there is a rich human resource in the prison, since all the varying discipline that one can think of could be found there, which are not being utilised for the good of the country.
“I know countries like Japan, etc, which make use of the prison inmates, there is a carpentry workshop in Nsawam which is completely neglected, no equipment, nothing, so they cannot produce, they should be able to produce even furniture for themselves, but go to the prison, the desk that they sit on is the desk that was produced in the 1960’s by the Nkrumah regime.”
When he got to the prison on 5th February 2006, the Keta MP who was granted a Presidential pardon said there was not even a single computer in there, and stressing that the tailoring shop is nothing to write home about.
He noted that it was only recently that the prison took delivery of some sowing machines.
Currently, he said he was in discussions with some people who share similar thoughts with him to soon come out with concrete proposals for these reforms to be undertaken.
“The Prisons Service itself, for me is the forgotten cussing of the security services, the morale in the Prisons Service is still low, infrastructure within the service especially in the prisons, the environment within which the officers work are so demoralising that in fact something needs to be done to bring back the spirit, if those Institutions are supposed to be reforming”, he emphasised.
Asked how he was treated in prison, Mr. Abodakpi said “quite well, like every other prisoner, no special privileges, I may say but I was shown due respect by the officers and inmates, by everybody.”
The situation in the various prisons in the country, as have been variously told by prison-graduates is nothing worth writing home about.
Whilst appreciating the kind gesture of President Kufuor in granting him a pardon, Mr. Abodakpi still insists on his innocence.