Vice President urges newly commissioned prison officers to uphold discipline and professionalism

The Vice President, Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, has urged newly commissioned officers of the Ghana Prisons Service to demonstrate discipline, hard work and professionalism in the discharge of their duties.

She stressed that the humane treatment of inmates was not optional but a constitutional obligation and a core responsibility of the Service.

The Vice President made the remarks at the graduation parade for Cadet Course Intakes 33, 34 and 35 at the Prison Officers Training School in Fumso in the Ashanti Region.

She congratulated the officers on successfully completing their training and assured them of the government’s continued commitment to improving staff welfare and conditions of service.

Professor Opoku-Agyemang said the government was taking steps to address overcrowding in the country’s prisons, noting that the passage of the Community Service Act would help decongest correctional facilities by promoting non-custodial sentencing.

She also disclosed that the government had provided tractors, fertilisers and other farming inputs to support agricultural activities in the prisons.

The initiative, she said, was intended to boost food production while providing inmates with opportunities to acquire practical skills.

The Vice President further appealed to Ghanaians to avoid stigmatising former inmates and instead support their reintegration into society after serving their sentences.

She was accompanied by the Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, and commended the leadership and personnel of the Ghana Prisons Service for their dedication and contribution to national service.