3/08/09
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Cabinet last Tuesday decided to review the legislation establishing the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC NLCD 226:1968 ) to make it a public broadcaster.
At the sixth anniversary celebration of TV Africa, a private television station in Accra last Friday, the Minister of Communications, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, said the review of the legislation would model the GBC along the lines of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
The review of the legislation is expected to put to rest the raging debate about the status of the GBC.
He noted that the GBC “is suffering from identity crisis” as to whether to operate as a public broadcaster or a commercial broadcaster.
Mr Iddrisu told the Daily Graphic later that the review of the legislation would give the GBC the authority to serve the public well and support government’s efforts at building the country.
He said the change of status of the GBC would make the competition in the broadcasting industry keener.
“The GBC will take the pride of place in Ghana’s media landscape,” he stressed.
The minister, therefore, urged other media houses, including TV Africa, to accept the challenge and respond to the competition in the industry.
He again indicated that the government was committed to the passage of the Broadcasting Act.
Mr Iddrisu said the government wanted every district capital to have at least one public or private radio station to promote the dissemination of information across the country.
Equally, he said, television was important to serve as an effective tool in the dissemination of information within communities, saying that “It has the tendency of transforming social norms”.
Mr Iddrisu said some television stations created awareness about government policies and prepared the people to take advantage of such policies. He, however, said other television programmes “debase our cultural values, and promote child pornography, the use of violent weapons, and explicit sexual programming in the form of Telenovela”.
He, therefore, charged the management of TV Africa to support public education on societal ills, such as crime, fraud, HIV/AIDS, rural-urban migration, teenage pregnancy and street hawking.
Mr Iddrisu commended the station for extending its transmission to about 40 per cent of the viewing population in the country.
He reiterated the government’s commitment to respect, promote and guarantee the independence of the media, media pluralism and freedom of expression.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of TV Africa, Mr Kwaw Ansah, said the station would not use it medium to play politics with issues affecting the people, saying that “We cannot play politics with them.”
Rather, he said, the station would use its medium “to get the people out of the woods”.
The Managing Director of TV Africa, Mr Berifi Apenteng, said the station had come a long way in providing authentic and reliable information about Africa in an African context.
He said through its programmes - news, current affairs and entertainment - TV Africa had been projecting the values of Africa usually ignored by the Western media.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Vodafone asked to follow labour laws
5/08/09
Labour consultant (national)
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
A LABOUR consultant, Mr Austin Gamey, has urged the management of Vodafone to let the terms of the company’s Collective Agreement (CA) and Section 65 of the Labour Act be the basis for its decision to lay off 950 employees.
He told the Daily Graphic that the terms of the CA should supersede all other provisions in dealing with issues affecting employer-employee relations.
Mr Gamey said Vodafone had the right to lay off workers for economic and technological changes, but said it was required to follow the due process.
He was reacting to the decision of the management of Vodafone to lay off 950 employees by the end of November, 2009, under the company’s compulsory redundancy policy.
The Chief Manager of Corporate Communications of Vodafone, Mr Isaac Abraham, told the press that the lay-off of the workers was to pave the way for a new organisational structure that would take effect on December 1, 2009.
However, the Secretary-General of the Ghana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), Mr Kofi Asamoah, was reported to have said that Vodafone’s decision to lay off the workers undermined the legal practices governing the country’s labour relations.
Mr Gamey said it was wrong for the company to enter into any individual agreements with workers on the issue of laying them off.
Rather, he said, there should be a collective agreement on the issue of disengagement of workers.
The labour consultant asked the management of Vodafone to liaise with the Human Resource and the Industrial Relations departments of the company to sit down with the leadership of the workers to follow through the CA and Section 65 of the Labour Act, which deals with issues of employer-employee relations.
He said they could report to the National Labour Commission in case of any difficulties in understanding the provisions of the Labour Act.
Mr Gamey said it was “painful” for anyone to be laid off, aside of its impact on the labour front and the national economy as a whole.
However, he said, “there is nothing wrong” if an employer wanted to embark on a legal disengagement of workers - within the terms of the CA and the Labour Act.
Mr Gamey urged both the management and workers to stay calm while the issue of dispensing with the services of some workers was being discussed.
Labour consultant (national)
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
A LABOUR consultant, Mr Austin Gamey, has urged the management of Vodafone to let the terms of the company’s Collective Agreement (CA) and Section 65 of the Labour Act be the basis for its decision to lay off 950 employees.
He told the Daily Graphic that the terms of the CA should supersede all other provisions in dealing with issues affecting employer-employee relations.
Mr Gamey said Vodafone had the right to lay off workers for economic and technological changes, but said it was required to follow the due process.
He was reacting to the decision of the management of Vodafone to lay off 950 employees by the end of November, 2009, under the company’s compulsory redundancy policy.
The Chief Manager of Corporate Communications of Vodafone, Mr Isaac Abraham, told the press that the lay-off of the workers was to pave the way for a new organisational structure that would take effect on December 1, 2009.
However, the Secretary-General of the Ghana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), Mr Kofi Asamoah, was reported to have said that Vodafone’s decision to lay off the workers undermined the legal practices governing the country’s labour relations.
Mr Gamey said it was wrong for the company to enter into any individual agreements with workers on the issue of laying them off.
Rather, he said, there should be a collective agreement on the issue of disengagement of workers.
The labour consultant asked the management of Vodafone to liaise with the Human Resource and the Industrial Relations departments of the company to sit down with the leadership of the workers to follow through the CA and Section 65 of the Labour Act, which deals with issues of employer-employee relations.
He said they could report to the National Labour Commission in case of any difficulties in understanding the provisions of the Labour Act.
Mr Gamey said it was “painful” for anyone to be laid off, aside of its impact on the labour front and the national economy as a whole.
However, he said, “there is nothing wrong” if an employer wanted to embark on a legal disengagement of workers - within the terms of the CA and the Labour Act.
Mr Gamey urged both the management and workers to stay calm while the issue of dispensing with the services of some workers was being discussed.
Political parties flout laws
7/08/09
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
Only one out of the seven political parties that contested the 2008 general election submitted its audited accounts for 2008 to the Electoral Commission (EC) as required by the Political Parties Law.
Section 21 Subsection (1) of Act 574 (2000) requires political parties to submit audited accounts of a preceding year to the EC by June 30 of the following year.
However, two months down the line only the Democratic People’s Party (DPP) has presented its audited accounts for 2008, according to the Director of Finance of the EC, Mr I. K. Boateng.
The others — the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Convention People’s Party (CPP), the People’s National Convention (PNC), the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) and the Reformed Patriotic Democrats (RPD) — have not submitted their accounts to the EC.
Mr Boateng said some of the political parties which registered with the EC but did not contest the 2008 election had not submitted their accounts for between two and four years.
The audited accounts are meant to give the financial position of the political parties in terms of their assets and liabilities. They also give information on fixed assets (items that can be used for more than one year), current assets (assets that can be disposed of within a year), as well as their liabilities.
He said the audited accounts “tell a political party’s financial position, whether it is in debt or not. They also show whether the acceptable accounting procedure is followed”.
According to Section 14 Subsection 1 of the Political Parties Law, “A political party shall, within twenty-one days before a general election, submit to the commission a statement of its assets and liabilities in such form as the Commission may direct.”
Section (2) says, “A political party shall, within six months after a general or by-election in which it has participated, submit to the commission a detailed statement in such form as the commission may direct of all expenditure incurred for that election.”
And Section (3) provides, “A statement required to be submitted under this section shall be supported by a statutory declaration made by the general or national secretary of the political party and the national treasurer of that party.”
On the penalty, Section (4) stipulates, “Without prejudice to any other penalty provided in this Act or any other enactment, where a political party (a) refuses or neglects to comply with this section; or (b) submits a statement which is false in any material particular, the commission may cancel the registration of the political party.”
According to Mr Boateng, both the NDC and the NPP presented their audited accounts for 2007, while the CPP and the PNC presented theirs up to 2005.
He said the political parties were supposed to comply with the law requiring them to submit their audited accounts to the EC and indicated that their failure to do so amounted to flouting the law.
“The law says by 30th June the audited accounts of the preceding year should have been presented. So if they (political parties) do not comply, they have broken the law,” he said.
Mr Boateng, however, admitted that the political parties had not reorganised fully after the rigorous 2008 elections, noting that the leadership of none of the political parties had sent any correspondence to the EC regarding its inability to submit its audited accounts.
In the same way, he said, the EC had not written to the political parties to remind them of their constitutional requirement to submit their audited accounts.
He said the EC would take it up to write to the parties soon.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
Only one out of the seven political parties that contested the 2008 general election submitted its audited accounts for 2008 to the Electoral Commission (EC) as required by the Political Parties Law.
Section 21 Subsection (1) of Act 574 (2000) requires political parties to submit audited accounts of a preceding year to the EC by June 30 of the following year.
However, two months down the line only the Democratic People’s Party (DPP) has presented its audited accounts for 2008, according to the Director of Finance of the EC, Mr I. K. Boateng.
The others — the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Convention People’s Party (CPP), the People’s National Convention (PNC), the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) and the Reformed Patriotic Democrats (RPD) — have not submitted their accounts to the EC.
Mr Boateng said some of the political parties which registered with the EC but did not contest the 2008 election had not submitted their accounts for between two and four years.
The audited accounts are meant to give the financial position of the political parties in terms of their assets and liabilities. They also give information on fixed assets (items that can be used for more than one year), current assets (assets that can be disposed of within a year), as well as their liabilities.
He said the audited accounts “tell a political party’s financial position, whether it is in debt or not. They also show whether the acceptable accounting procedure is followed”.
According to Section 14 Subsection 1 of the Political Parties Law, “A political party shall, within twenty-one days before a general election, submit to the commission a statement of its assets and liabilities in such form as the Commission may direct.”
Section (2) says, “A political party shall, within six months after a general or by-election in which it has participated, submit to the commission a detailed statement in such form as the commission may direct of all expenditure incurred for that election.”
And Section (3) provides, “A statement required to be submitted under this section shall be supported by a statutory declaration made by the general or national secretary of the political party and the national treasurer of that party.”
On the penalty, Section (4) stipulates, “Without prejudice to any other penalty provided in this Act or any other enactment, where a political party (a) refuses or neglects to comply with this section; or (b) submits a statement which is false in any material particular, the commission may cancel the registration of the political party.”
According to Mr Boateng, both the NDC and the NPP presented their audited accounts for 2007, while the CPP and the PNC presented theirs up to 2005.
He said the political parties were supposed to comply with the law requiring them to submit their audited accounts to the EC and indicated that their failure to do so amounted to flouting the law.
“The law says by 30th June the audited accounts of the preceding year should have been presented. So if they (political parties) do not comply, they have broken the law,” he said.
Mr Boateng, however, admitted that the political parties had not reorganised fully after the rigorous 2008 elections, noting that the leadership of none of the political parties had sent any correspondence to the EC regarding its inability to submit its audited accounts.
In the same way, he said, the EC had not written to the political parties to remind them of their constitutional requirement to submit their audited accounts.
He said the EC would take it up to write to the parties soon.
Prisons congested - report
13/08/09
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru & Natasha Lewis
THE rate of congestion in Ghana’s prisons worsened last year due to the increasing prison population, according to the 2008 annual report of the Ghana Prisons Service (GPS).
The cumulative prison population for 2008 was 5,170,840 as against the 2007 figure of 4,867,366, representing an increase of 5.9 per cent with an average daily lock-up of 14,128.
The report cited a high incidence of re-offending among ex-convicts as a contributory factor to the increasing prisoner population. Of the 9,377 convicted prisoners admitted in 2008, a total of 1,806 of them, representing 19.3 per cent, had been previously convicted.
It said 8,315 or 88.7 per cent of convicts admitted during the year were aged between 18 and 45.
The youthful nature of the prison population is highlighted in the report in relation to overcrowding with an emphasis on the need to expand facilities for more effective education and training of the inmates to make them productive.
According to the report, the most frequent offence committed by prisoners in 2008 was stealing, with an increase from 3,155 in 2007 to 4,263 in 2008.
The region with the highest occurrence of stealing offences in 2008 continued to be the Ashanti Region, with 1,518 convictions. The Eastern Region was second with 967 cases, followed by Western Region, 579; Central Region, 439; Brong Ahafo, 276; Volta, 191; Upper West, 99; Upper East, 90; Northern, 79 and Greater Accra with 25.
The number of prisoners held for abetment of crime more than doubled from 56 in 2007 to 119 in 2008. In both 2007 and 2008, the second most frequent offence committed was robbery but 2008 saw a decrease in cases from 792 in 2007 to 508.
A total of 131 people were convicted for murder and 11 imprisoned for manslaughter. Rape convicts numbered 79 with defilement recording 445 convicts.
Some 462 people were sentenced for possession of narcotic drugs, with 25 jailed for possessing firearms. A total of 174 people were jailed for driving offences.
Those convicted for assault/indecent assault numbered 287, causing damage/causing harm, 406; and threatening 142.
Fraud cases totalled 339 while conspiracy recorded 412 convicts. There was also a significant decrease in unlawful entry from 624 in 2007 to 330 in 2008.
Sixteen prisoners who escaped from custody were re-arrested and sentenced, while 45 people who could not settle their debts were also jailed and 42 persons convicted for dishonestly receiving.
According to the report, only one person was convicted in the Upper West Region for contempt of court, while nobody was convicted for child stealing.
Other offences were 1,600.
Given the youthful age (18-45) of the majority of prisoners, the report called for “a greater level of commitment to the effective reintegration of ex-convicts into society”, and indicated that projects had been “hampered by lack of funding”.
The Director-General of Prisons, William Kwadwo Asiedu, was quoted as mentioning “dwindling budgetary allocation, increasing prison population, lack of decent and adequate staff accommodation and the passiveness of society to the welfare of prisoners and its resentment towards ex-convicts” as the key challenges confronting the Prisons Service.
He, therefore, called for a “greater display of public goodwill towards the Ghana Prisons Service”.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru & Natasha Lewis
THE rate of congestion in Ghana’s prisons worsened last year due to the increasing prison population, according to the 2008 annual report of the Ghana Prisons Service (GPS).
The cumulative prison population for 2008 was 5,170,840 as against the 2007 figure of 4,867,366, representing an increase of 5.9 per cent with an average daily lock-up of 14,128.
The report cited a high incidence of re-offending among ex-convicts as a contributory factor to the increasing prisoner population. Of the 9,377 convicted prisoners admitted in 2008, a total of 1,806 of them, representing 19.3 per cent, had been previously convicted.
It said 8,315 or 88.7 per cent of convicts admitted during the year were aged between 18 and 45.
The youthful nature of the prison population is highlighted in the report in relation to overcrowding with an emphasis on the need to expand facilities for more effective education and training of the inmates to make them productive.
According to the report, the most frequent offence committed by prisoners in 2008 was stealing, with an increase from 3,155 in 2007 to 4,263 in 2008.
The region with the highest occurrence of stealing offences in 2008 continued to be the Ashanti Region, with 1,518 convictions. The Eastern Region was second with 967 cases, followed by Western Region, 579; Central Region, 439; Brong Ahafo, 276; Volta, 191; Upper West, 99; Upper East, 90; Northern, 79 and Greater Accra with 25.
The number of prisoners held for abetment of crime more than doubled from 56 in 2007 to 119 in 2008. In both 2007 and 2008, the second most frequent offence committed was robbery but 2008 saw a decrease in cases from 792 in 2007 to 508.
A total of 131 people were convicted for murder and 11 imprisoned for manslaughter. Rape convicts numbered 79 with defilement recording 445 convicts.
Some 462 people were sentenced for possession of narcotic drugs, with 25 jailed for possessing firearms. A total of 174 people were jailed for driving offences.
Those convicted for assault/indecent assault numbered 287, causing damage/causing harm, 406; and threatening 142.
Fraud cases totalled 339 while conspiracy recorded 412 convicts. There was also a significant decrease in unlawful entry from 624 in 2007 to 330 in 2008.
Sixteen prisoners who escaped from custody were re-arrested and sentenced, while 45 people who could not settle their debts were also jailed and 42 persons convicted for dishonestly receiving.
According to the report, only one person was convicted in the Upper West Region for contempt of court, while nobody was convicted for child stealing.
Other offences were 1,600.
Given the youthful age (18-45) of the majority of prisoners, the report called for “a greater level of commitment to the effective reintegration of ex-convicts into society”, and indicated that projects had been “hampered by lack of funding”.
The Director-General of Prisons, William Kwadwo Asiedu, was quoted as mentioning “dwindling budgetary allocation, increasing prison population, lack of decent and adequate staff accommodation and the passiveness of society to the welfare of prisoners and its resentment towards ex-convicts” as the key challenges confronting the Prisons Service.
He, therefore, called for a “greater display of public goodwill towards the Ghana Prisons Service”.
Local firm processes bio-diesel from sunflower
19/08/09
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru & Jasmine Arku
A local company, Tragrimacs Sunflower Ghana Limited, has set up a plant at Tema that processes 5,000 gallons of bio-diesel a day from sunflower.
The oil expeller processes sunflower seeds into crude oil while the bio-diesel processor refines the crude oil into bio-diesel, suitable for vehicles.
The bio-diesel produced from the sunflower is offered for sale, mainly to owners of tractors for farming and other purposes.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) supported the project with $25,000 under its Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (GEF-SGP).
The Chief Executive Officer of Tragrimacs, Mr Issah Suleiman, made this known to the Daily Graphic after an inspection tour of a 40-acre sunflower plantation at Gomoa Adzentem in the Central Region.
The plantation has a portion for beekeeping for the production of honey.
According to Mr Suleiman, bio-diesel produced from sunflower had several advantages over other bio-diesel products.
For instance, he said bio-diesel from sunflower emit less carbon, thus making it environmentally friendly.
He said the decision to set up the plant to process sunflower into bio-diesel was necessitated by the huge demand and the increasing cost of fuel in the country.
Mr Suleiman appealed to the government to adopt the bio-diesel produced from sunflower as an alternative source of energy in the country.
He asked the government to work towards achieving five per cent production of bio-diesel from sunflower by 2015, and indicated that it would bring down the cost of fuel by 10 per cent.
The National Programme Co-ordinator of the UNDP GEF-SGP, Mr George B. Ortsin, said his outfit had provided funds to three categories of farmers to go into sunflower cultivation, processing and marketing.
The Chief of Gomoa Adzentem, Nana Asare I, who provided the land for the cultivation of sunflower, promised to offer more land to farmers to go into sunflower cultivation in the area.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru & Jasmine Arku
A local company, Tragrimacs Sunflower Ghana Limited, has set up a plant at Tema that processes 5,000 gallons of bio-diesel a day from sunflower.
The oil expeller processes sunflower seeds into crude oil while the bio-diesel processor refines the crude oil into bio-diesel, suitable for vehicles.
The bio-diesel produced from the sunflower is offered for sale, mainly to owners of tractors for farming and other purposes.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) supported the project with $25,000 under its Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (GEF-SGP).
The Chief Executive Officer of Tragrimacs, Mr Issah Suleiman, made this known to the Daily Graphic after an inspection tour of a 40-acre sunflower plantation at Gomoa Adzentem in the Central Region.
The plantation has a portion for beekeeping for the production of honey.
According to Mr Suleiman, bio-diesel produced from sunflower had several advantages over other bio-diesel products.
For instance, he said bio-diesel from sunflower emit less carbon, thus making it environmentally friendly.
He said the decision to set up the plant to process sunflower into bio-diesel was necessitated by the huge demand and the increasing cost of fuel in the country.
Mr Suleiman appealed to the government to adopt the bio-diesel produced from sunflower as an alternative source of energy in the country.
He asked the government to work towards achieving five per cent production of bio-diesel from sunflower by 2015, and indicated that it would bring down the cost of fuel by 10 per cent.
The National Programme Co-ordinator of the UNDP GEF-SGP, Mr George B. Ortsin, said his outfit had provided funds to three categories of farmers to go into sunflower cultivation, processing and marketing.
The Chief of Gomoa Adzentem, Nana Asare I, who provided the land for the cultivation of sunflower, promised to offer more land to farmers to go into sunflower cultivation in the area.
Hajj agents want pilgrims to fly from Tamale
22/08/09
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
HAJJ agents in the northern sector have appealed to the government to make it possible for prospective pilgrims in the three regions of the north to embark on their journey to Jeddah from the Tamale Airport.
By that arrangement, they said, they would be able to avoid the ordeal that prospective pilgrims from those regions went through by travelling down to Accra and sleeping under dehumanising conditions at the Aviance Village for days before departing to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The spokesperson for the Hajj agents, Alhaji Ayana Yakubu, told the Daily Graphic that it was possible to fly pilgrims from the Tamale Airport since a similar arrangement was effected in the 1970s.
He said the Tamale Airport had all the facilities and personnel to handle the departure formalities of the pilgrims.
Alhaji Ayana said, for instance, that competent personnel from the Ghana Civil Aviation, the Immigration Service and the Customs Excise and Preventive Service were stationed at the Tamale Airport.
In terms of proximity, he said the Tamale Airport was closer to the Jeddah Airport (five hours) than the Kotoka International Airport (six hours).
Alhaji Ayana, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Ayana Hajj Travel and member of the Ghana Hajj Agents Association (GHAA), told the Daily Graphic that in addition to prospective pilgrims from the Northern, Upper West and Upper East Region, those from the Brong Ahafo could also fly from the Tamale Airport to Jeddah, if the arrangement was made.
He said about 1,500, representing 50 per cent of the about 3,000 Ghanaian pilgrims, were from the three regions of the north and the Brong Ahafo Region.
Alhaji Ayana said prospective pilgrims from those areas were compelled under the current circumstances to come down to Accra and often got “stranded” at the Aviance Village for some days before leaving for the pilgrimage.
He said the plight of the pilgrims would be greatly reduced if they were made to take off from the Tamale Airport.
“Flying the pilgrims direct from the Tamale Airport to Jeddah will reduce the tension and difficulty that the pilgrims go through,” he stressed.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
HAJJ agents in the northern sector have appealed to the government to make it possible for prospective pilgrims in the three regions of the north to embark on their journey to Jeddah from the Tamale Airport.
By that arrangement, they said, they would be able to avoid the ordeal that prospective pilgrims from those regions went through by travelling down to Accra and sleeping under dehumanising conditions at the Aviance Village for days before departing to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The spokesperson for the Hajj agents, Alhaji Ayana Yakubu, told the Daily Graphic that it was possible to fly pilgrims from the Tamale Airport since a similar arrangement was effected in the 1970s.
He said the Tamale Airport had all the facilities and personnel to handle the departure formalities of the pilgrims.
Alhaji Ayana said, for instance, that competent personnel from the Ghana Civil Aviation, the Immigration Service and the Customs Excise and Preventive Service were stationed at the Tamale Airport.
In terms of proximity, he said the Tamale Airport was closer to the Jeddah Airport (five hours) than the Kotoka International Airport (six hours).
Alhaji Ayana, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Ayana Hajj Travel and member of the Ghana Hajj Agents Association (GHAA), told the Daily Graphic that in addition to prospective pilgrims from the Northern, Upper West and Upper East Region, those from the Brong Ahafo could also fly from the Tamale Airport to Jeddah, if the arrangement was made.
He said about 1,500, representing 50 per cent of the about 3,000 Ghanaian pilgrims, were from the three regions of the north and the Brong Ahafo Region.
Alhaji Ayana said prospective pilgrims from those areas were compelled under the current circumstances to come down to Accra and often got “stranded” at the Aviance Village for some days before leaving for the pilgrimage.
He said the plight of the pilgrims would be greatly reduced if they were made to take off from the Tamale Airport.
“Flying the pilgrims direct from the Tamale Airport to Jeddah will reduce the tension and difficulty that the pilgrims go through,” he stressed.
Impose non-custodial sentences...to decongest prisons
24/08/09
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru & Jasmine Arku
A CRIMINOLOGIST, Professor Ken Attafuah, has urged the Judiciary to impose suspended or non-custodial sentences on convicts who commit less serious crimes as a way of decongesting the country’s prisons.
Besides, he said the increasing number of re-offending among ex-convicts “indicates a clear failure of the rehabilitation of prisoners by the Ghana Prisons Service (GPS)”.
He said “the courts are enjoined to impose custodial sentences only when it is the reasonable option”, and stressed that “the goal of rehabilitation is a cardinal concern in the imposition of custodial sentences”.
Prof. Attafuah was reacting to the 2008 annual report of the GPS which indicated that the rate of congestion in Ghana’s prisons worsened last year due to the increasing prison population.
The report cited a high incidence of re-offending among ex-convicts as a contributory factor to the increasing prisoner population. Of the 9,377 convicted prisoners admitted in 2008, a total of 1,806 of them, representing 19.3 per cent, had been previously convicted.
Prof. Attafuah said: “Statistics indicate that the Judiciary continues to impose custodial penalties on convicts instead of liberally exercising their discretion to impose non-custodial penalties in appropriate cases as prescribed by the law.”
He mentioned probation, parole, fines, community service, apologies and compensatory service by the perpetrator to the victim as some of the non-custodial penalties that could be exercised under the country’s laws.
He stressed that the high incidence of repeated crimes showed the inadequacy of the resource base of the GPS “in ensuring effective rehabilitation and re-moulding of the character of prisoners.”
According to him, facilities at the prisons “are not only primeval, but also severely inadequate”, while the occupational skills imparted to the inmates “are not in keeping with contemporary needs and standards of society”.
Prof. Attafuah mentioned antiquated blacksmithing, tailoring with ancient machines, leather bag making and basket weaving as some of the out-of-fashion skills at the country’s prisons.
As a result, he said upon their return from prison, the ex-convicts were not able to find any gainful employment.
Prof. Attafuah, who is also the Executive Director of the Justice and Human Rights Institute, said many employers refused to engage ex-convicts, even when the crime committed was not related to the work they were going for.
“That discrimination is unjustified. It forces ex-convicts to hinge on the arms of criminals who are ready to offer them comfort,” he said.
Besides, Prof. Attafuah said most of the ex-convicts were not able to form lasting relationship with women, thus making them careless.
Besides, he said the society rejected ex-convicts, which compelled them to seek solace from their colleague criminals, and thus forcing them to continue committing crime.
He, therefore, urged the public to let ex-convicts feel the sense of belonging, since it had the potential for reducing the incidence of crime in the country.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru & Jasmine Arku
A CRIMINOLOGIST, Professor Ken Attafuah, has urged the Judiciary to impose suspended or non-custodial sentences on convicts who commit less serious crimes as a way of decongesting the country’s prisons.
Besides, he said the increasing number of re-offending among ex-convicts “indicates a clear failure of the rehabilitation of prisoners by the Ghana Prisons Service (GPS)”.
He said “the courts are enjoined to impose custodial sentences only when it is the reasonable option”, and stressed that “the goal of rehabilitation is a cardinal concern in the imposition of custodial sentences”.
Prof. Attafuah was reacting to the 2008 annual report of the GPS which indicated that the rate of congestion in Ghana’s prisons worsened last year due to the increasing prison population.
The report cited a high incidence of re-offending among ex-convicts as a contributory factor to the increasing prisoner population. Of the 9,377 convicted prisoners admitted in 2008, a total of 1,806 of them, representing 19.3 per cent, had been previously convicted.
Prof. Attafuah said: “Statistics indicate that the Judiciary continues to impose custodial penalties on convicts instead of liberally exercising their discretion to impose non-custodial penalties in appropriate cases as prescribed by the law.”
He mentioned probation, parole, fines, community service, apologies and compensatory service by the perpetrator to the victim as some of the non-custodial penalties that could be exercised under the country’s laws.
He stressed that the high incidence of repeated crimes showed the inadequacy of the resource base of the GPS “in ensuring effective rehabilitation and re-moulding of the character of prisoners.”
According to him, facilities at the prisons “are not only primeval, but also severely inadequate”, while the occupational skills imparted to the inmates “are not in keeping with contemporary needs and standards of society”.
Prof. Attafuah mentioned antiquated blacksmithing, tailoring with ancient machines, leather bag making and basket weaving as some of the out-of-fashion skills at the country’s prisons.
As a result, he said upon their return from prison, the ex-convicts were not able to find any gainful employment.
Prof. Attafuah, who is also the Executive Director of the Justice and Human Rights Institute, said many employers refused to engage ex-convicts, even when the crime committed was not related to the work they were going for.
“That discrimination is unjustified. It forces ex-convicts to hinge on the arms of criminals who are ready to offer them comfort,” he said.
Besides, Prof. Attafuah said most of the ex-convicts were not able to form lasting relationship with women, thus making them careless.
Besides, he said the society rejected ex-convicts, which compelled them to seek solace from their colleague criminals, and thus forcing them to continue committing crime.
He, therefore, urged the public to let ex-convicts feel the sense of belonging, since it had the potential for reducing the incidence of crime in the country.
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