Prison is not a place to be; freed convict cautions Aikins Yaw Adjei, a 26-year-old convict serving a seven-month jail term at the Sunyani Central Prisons has been freed and released from the prisons accordingly.
Adjei was arraigned before the Nsoatre District Magistrate Court in the Sunyani West Municipality on October 4, this year, found guilty for stealing three cartons of cigarettes, but could not pay a fine of GHC840.His prayers in jail were however answered, when the Commonwealth Rights Initiative (CHRI), a non-governmental organisation paid the fine for him to gain his liberty on Wednesday.
With a smile on his face, Adjei told Sky News “prison is not a home for anybody to be there”, and promised to live an upright life by avoiding bad friends. He could not hide his joy when he stepped out from the prisons, and expressed appreciation to the NGO, which also gave him an additional GHC200 as transport fare. Earlier, Mr Owoahene Acheampong, an official of the CHRI told newsmen the NGO was working to help decongest the country’s prisons.
“The CHRI contacted and asked us to provide them with the list of inmates whose sentences were attached with a fine not exceeding GHC1, 200”, Deputy Superintendent of Prisons (DSP) Johann Nii Narh Nartey, the Public Relations Officer of the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Regional Prisons Command indicated. He explained eight inmates were however identified but added the seven others could not meet the conditions of the NGO.
Source: Skynewsroom
