The Officer-In-Charge of the Female Department of the Kumasi Central Prisons, Assistant Director of Prisons (ADP) Hannah Hilder Awanor, has appealed to Ghanaians to accept and assist ex-convicts to integrate into the society.
According to ADP Awanor, many ex-convicts were invariably stigmatised in the various societies they found themselves in, “for this reason, many of them end up coming back into the prisons (recidivism) due to the ill-treatment they go through”.
ADP Hannah Hilder Awanor mentioned that the inmates were given extensive vocational training in order to fit into society when they were freed.
“And so, families of ex-felons should endow them with some capital to start up a business for themselves”, she appealed.
She was speaking to the Ghanaian Times here, at the end-of-year get-together of the Ashanti Regional Prisons Ladies Association (PRILAS), last Thursday.
The celebration was on the theme, “A female Correctional Officer: A Catalyst For Reformation, Rehabilitation, and Reintegration” was marked to honour the good work of prisons’ ladies throughout the year.
“I take this opportunity to reiterate the appeal to well-meaning Ghanaians and family members in particular, to accept ex-convicts and assist them to put to trade what they learn when they go on discharge”, she indicated.
ADP Awanor, also the President of PRILAS, eulogised members of the Association for their unrelenting effort towards the well-being of the Ghana Prisons Service.
Deputy Director of Prisons (DDP) Akwasi Asamoah Fenning, Ashanti Regional Prisons Commander, who also spoke to the Ghanaian Times pleaded with institutions to give in helping hands to ex-convicts to be able to settle down in the society.
The Commander admitted that prisons in the country needed maximum support to be able to cater for the felons, and urged all stakeholders to endeavour to help them(prisons).
FROM KINGSLEY E.HOPE, KUMASI
