Browsing by Author "Tekpertey, Eric"

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    Regional Correctional Centre -Nketia Ashanti Region, Ghana
    (2009-05-05) Tekpertey, Eric
    Prison overcrowding continues to haunt Ghana’s prison institutions. All adult prison facilities in Ghana are currently operating above their rated or design capacities. Data as at February 6, 2009 indicates that the prison system in Ghana is heavily overcrowded with the national rate of overcrowding standing at 78 percent. The overcrowding situation is more pronounced in Ashanti, Eastern, Western, and Northern and Upper West regions. The Ashanti region recorded an overcrowding rate of 182 percent. All the six prison establishments in the region have a total design capacity of 886 but as at February 6, 2009, there were a total of 2501 inmates confined in the six prisons. Prison overcrowding has many negative effects upon inmates. Research has demonstrated that prison overcrowding creates competition for limited resources, aggression, higher rates of illness, increased likelihood of recidivism and higher suicide rates. There are various methods to reduce prison overcrowding. Among the more influential are prison design and reducing the prison population by developing community based alternatives to incarceration for minor offences. The regional correctional centre shall provide additional capacity to absorb the current deficit and also provide inmates with vocational training that will keep them employed when they are released.