The Director-General of the Ghana Prisons Service, Mrs Patience Baffoe-Bonnie, has appealed to the public to support efforts aimed at improving conditions in the nation’s prisons through collective contributions.
Speaking at the Ghana Women Awards 2025 ceremony in Accra, where she received the Lifetime Achievement Award for her trailblazing leadership, Mrs Baffoe-Bonnie proposed a small monthly contribution from citizens, noting that even a cedi from half of Ghana’s population could raise not less than ten million cedis to enhance prison facilities and inmate welfare.
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“In the days ahead, we will come to your doorsteps. We have come up with a Prison Sustainability Support System, and by our calculations, we are not asking for much. All we are saying is that if half of the population of this country gives us a cedi a month, we will get not less than ten million cedis and can make the conditions of our prisons better,” she said.
The initiative, dubbed the “Prisons Sustainability Support System,” aims to address long-standing challenges such as overcrowding, limited funding, and insufficient social support within Ghana’s correctional institutions.
Mrs Baffoe-Bonnie, who made history as the first woman to lead the Ghana Prisons Service, reaffirmed her commitment to building a modern, humane, and accountable prison system that prioritises the welfare of officers, staff, and inmates. She emphasised that the call for public participation reflects a shared responsibility in sustaining an effective correctional framework vital to national security and social development.
The Ghana Prisons Service plays a central role in the country’s criminal justice system, overseeing the safe custody, reformation, and rehabilitation of convicted persons. Yet, it continues to face major structural and resource constraints that hinder its reform efforts.
Mr Samuel Afriyie Owusu, Head of Research and Communication for the Ghana Women Awards, commended Mrs Baffoe-Bonnie for her consistency and professionalism, recalling that she won the Outstanding Female Prisons Service Personnel Award in 2013. He also congratulated Deputy Director of Prisons (Mrs) Millicent Owusu, Director of Welfare at the Ghana Prisons Service, for winning the Outstanding Female Prisons Service Personnel Award at this year’s event.
