Increase feeding fee of prisoners to GH₵15 a day
Until 2011, the feeding fee of prisoners for three-square meals (per head) per day in Ghana was 60 pesewas.
The 60 pesewas feeding fee for inmates was in place for 10 years before in 2011, the government increased the feeding fee from 60 pesewas to GH₵1.80.
The feeding fee for prisoners in the country remains GH₵1.80 for three-square meals (per head) per day in spite of the increasing cost of living.
Suspects also known as pretrial detainees are kept in the same facilities as convicts but generally in separate cells.
Meals are usually supplemented by donations from philanthropists as well as with produce from farms cultivated by the prisoners.
The majority of inmates interviewed by monitoring groups expressed their dissatisfaction about the poor quality and quantity of food served them.
They also complained that their menu offered little variety and the lunch and dinner portions are usually served together as one combined meal.
These combined meals are usually provided during lunch time and which reportedly resulted in inmates sometimes experiencing starvation at night.
The current amount of GH₵1.80 is not enough to provide balanced diets for inmates
The lack of balanced diet poses risk to prison inmates across the country,
People with low immune system are vulnerable to diseases and so “it has become very important to improve on the diet of inmates in order to build their immune system, to avoid placing them at a lower risk in terms of contracting disease like COVID-19.
Prison inmates needed to be fed well to boost their immune system, so they will be able to withstand diseases most common in prisons in the country.
Since the prisoners are adults, feeding them must be at par with what boarding students in senior high schools received.
It is against their fundamental human rights to feed them with inadequate food.
This GH₵1.80 feeding grant is not enough to feed one adult person in a day.
The inadequate feeding grant allocated to the inmates of the facilities is gravely affecting the smooth operations of the prisons in the country.
Considering the economic situation of today, we have realized that the GH₵1.80 is woefully inadequate.
There is the need for the government to increase the daily GH₵1.80 feeding fee per inmate to a minimum of GH₵15 per day.
So, we will like the government to increase the feeding fee so that authorities managing the prisons can feed the prisoners a good three square meals each day.
