The Media have been asked to highlight the benefits of Community Service Sentencing for societal acceptance and policy formulation to reduce over crowding in Ghana’s prisons.
At a day’s sensation workshop in Accra, speakers unanimously held that community service sentencing was the surest way to reduce overcrowding in the various prisons as well as reduce the Government’s expenditure on feeding and upkeep of prisoners.
The speakers noted that the GHC1.80 given to inmates as feeding fee was woefully inadequate hence the need for Ghana to expedite processes to pass the Community Service Sentencing Bill into law.
Mr Edmund Amarkwei-Foley, Director of Programme, Institute of Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (IHRDA), noted that the general approach in sentencing in Ghana was based on imprisonment and fines.
He recounted that the impact of custodial sentencing had resulted in prison overcrowding, adding that per 2020 figures 52 per cent of the country’s prisons were crowded.
He said people who were jailed as a result of petty offences often led to loss of livelihood and employment opportunities.
Mr Amarkwei-Foley said people were stigmatised and their rights were violated.
He mentioned some of community sentencing as compulsory unpaid work (cleaning, collection of litter, redecorating community space and facilities).
He said participation in these activities could lead to behavioural change.
It would also reduce cost and expenditure on government, noting that the GHC1.80 allocated to each inmate daily could be used in other profitable ventures.
He opined that for one to benefit from community sentencing, that person must admit that he or she had committed the offence.
Topics discussed included the role of the media in advancing alternatives to imprisonment in Ghana, International standards and best practices on community sentencing and its implementation and community service sentencing: a prerequisite to enhance justice delivery in Ghana.
Ms Gifty Quaye, Assistant Director, Ministry of the Interior, noted that studies conducted by countries implementing community service have had a reduction in overcrowding of prisons.
Additionally, there had been reduction in the spread of communicable diseases and fundamental human rights of prisoners had been respected.
Ms Quaye was speaking at a day’s sensitisation workshop of selected journalists in Accra under the USAID Justice Sector Support (JSS) activity.
Ms Quaye noted that the implementation of community sentencing would also enhance peace and security of the country.
“This is because it will promote the engagement between the offender, the victim and the community thereby serving as means of crime control as well as protecting the wellbeing of citizens,” she said.
She said the Ministry of Interior had forwarded the revised bill to the Attorney General’s office (AG) for advice.
Going forward, she said, based on the response from the AG’s office, the Ministry of the Interior would meet with other stakeholders to educate the public on community service.
She said the Ministry was currently putting in place measures to address congestion in prisons, improve conditions of detention and reduce the occurrence of recidivism.
Mr Martin Nwosu, a private legal practitioner, appealed to the Media to “popularise” community sentencing among lawyers, judges, prosecutors, among other stakeholders to have a change of mindset.
“Once you have admitted committing an offence: a misdemeanour, it does not automatically mean you should go to prison, “he said.
Ms Mina Mensah, Director, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Africa Office, said the challenge of overcrowding was not because of high crime rate and therefore called on journalists to continue to set the agenda on alternative sentencing to decongest the prisons.
Community sentencing can be described as alternative sentencing or non-custodial sentencing.
Source: Ghana News Agency
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