Authorities at the Ankaful Prisons in the Central Region have reiterated calls on government to raise the current feeding rate of GHS1.80 to enable them to feed the inmates adequately.

They maintained that the daily feeding rate of GHS1.80 per prisoner, was woefully inadequate and needed to be increased urgently to mitigate the challenge of food scarcity in the prison.

Superintendent Daniel Eghan, Officer in Charge of Paralegal, describing feeding as their biggest challenge, told the Ghana News Agency that even though the inmates ate three times daily, the meals were not sufficient.

'Therefore, we always count on the benevolence of the public to assist the prisons' authority in terms of catering to see to the welfare of the inmates,' he said.

'What can GHS1.80 per prisoner buy? We are pleading with the government to increase the money for feeding for them to be properly fed,' he appealed.

Superintendent Eghan also mentioned the challenge of inadequate medical supplies and the lack of logistics at their clinics to cater for sick prisoners.

He, therefore, appealed to the government, organisations, and benevolent members of the public for support including beds, mattresses, and drugs to help their cause.

He intimated that the Ankaful Maximum Security Prison, the biggest prison in Ghana, had a population of 1,424 inmates, 576 shy of its capacity and, therefore, had no problem with congestion.

However, he noted, the prison had not been filled to capacity because they did not have enough staff to guarantee full security.

Source: Ghana News Agency