body-container-line-1
21.10.2015 Feature Article

Ghana Prisons Service: Vision, Mission and Values

Ghana Prisons Service: Vision, Mission and Values
21.10.2015 LISTEN

The Ghana Prisons Service as a statutory organization is mandated to fulfill certain functions which inure to the benefit of society. These have been clearly spelt out in NRCD 46 of 1972 as follows:

(a). Safe custody of prisoners,
(b). Welfare of prisoners,
(c) Reformation and rehabilitation of prisoners (where practicable)

The above functions have one major goal-safety and safe protection for the public.

To achieve this all important objective, prison officers must ensure that the prisoners who are entrusted to their care do not escape.

Welfare of prisoners
It is also the duty of prison officers and all who work in the prisons to meet the welfare needs of prison inmates. Primary health care must be given; clothing and bedding must be provided. They must also be given wholesome and nourishing food for the maintenance of good health. They also need library facilities where they can have access to fiction and non-fiction books, books for entertainment, relevant and resource books for formal education and subject based courses among others. They should be able to exercise their bodies and also have entertainment since both are a tonic for the body and mind.

Prisoners who need legal support should be assisted to do so. The Legal Aid Scheme will be of tremendous assistance to indigent prisoners. The Service must arrange for pro bono lawyers to assist prisoners who do not have financial resources to hire the services of lawyers who charge outrageous legal fees.

The management of prisoners must be human rights centred. In other words, prison officers must treat prisoners with dignity and not trample on their rights with impunity.

Reformation and rehabilitation
The Prisons Decree had made reformation and rehabilitation of prisoners a non-core function; how sad! The Prisons Service has since made a paradigm shift and reformation and rehabilitation have become its pivotal functions and main business. The ability of ex-convicts to successfully integrate into their communities is a yard stick for measuring the performance of correction institutions. Our current philosophy is therefore in alignment with international standards and best practices.

The main objective of reformation and rehabilitation programmes is to address the offending behavior of the prisoner while equipping him with the requisite skills for a successful reentry after discharge from prison and reduce re-offending. Thus inmates are offered opportunities to develop their skills through career guidance and counseling, vocational training, moral and formal education. They are taught modern methods of farming.

We also encourage the private sector, civil society organizations, NGOs, Faith-based Organizations, Community-based organizations to partner with the prisons in providing tools, equipment, materials and funds to support our rehabilitation programmes for inmates.

The functions of the Service have been expanded to include active participation during National Ceremonial parades and provision of personnel for UN Peace-keeping Missions.

Every successful organization or individual has a well- crafted vision, statement of purpose and values and the Ghana Prisons Service is no exception.

Our vision
“Building a world class Service to attain sustainable public safety through excellence in corrections management”.

Vision is an aspiration which projects into the future. What is our ideal future according to our vision?

This can be summarized as follows: world class Service, sustainable public safety and excellence in prisons management.

Everybody working in the prisons must understand this vision. Whatever they do must be in furtherance of this very objective. They must work with the end in view. They must believe in the vision, that achieving it will positively impact their lives and the world around them.

Our Mission Statement
“We are committed to undertake the safe custody, humane treatment, reformation, rehabilitation and reintegration of inmates to make them responsible, productive and law abiding citizens to ensure public safety”.

Our mission statement is specific, clear and unambiguous. It tells why the Prisons Service exists and provides a sense of meaning for the leadership, staff and other stakeholders. We are effective as an organization when we ensure public safety through the successful incarceration of inmates, treat the inmates with dignity, reform and rehabilitate them so that they can contribute to the development of Ghana as responsible, law-abiding and productive citizens.

Our core values
The Service executes its mandate through hard work based on the cherished values of humanity, vigilance, fortitude, integrity and discipline. These are the governing principles of the Service. These values must reflect in the performance of our duties.

We must not treat prisoners with high handedness as this can potentially make them hardened criminals unfit for reinsertion into society after discharge. This does not mean treating them with kid cloves. We should be fair and firm and discipline them with love when they break prison rules. This means the rules must be made known to them for compliance. In the handling of prisoners care must be taken so that we do not violate their inalienable rights.

Vigilance is a security tool and implies exercising close supervision to prevent prisoners from escaping from lawful custody.

Fortitude means officers developing stamina and resilience in the performance of their duties without showing sluggishness.

Integrity means showing an attitude of honesty when dealing with prisoners, fellow staff and other stakeholders such as our cherished customers.

Discipline encompasses such character traits as hard work, honesty, patience, love of work, diligence, a positive attitude, tact, impartiality and performing our duties even when it is most uncomfortable.

Conclusion
In conclusion, internal operatives and our external stakeholders must work together to enable the Service achieve its vision and mandate. It is therefore imperative that when we are recruiting people, we should find out whether those we are recruiting can help the Service achieve its short term and long term goals. Questions on our vision, mission and values must be asked during the recruitment and selection process. Candidates who do not qualify by our standards must not be enlisted to come and pollute the system. The Service plays a strategic role and the government should help by providing the needed funds, tools, equipment, logistics and transport to enable the Service deliver on its mandate for the good of mother Ghana. The government should consider increasing the feeding rate for the inmates as the Ghc1.80 per prisoner per day is woefully inadequate.

Abundant Robert K. AWOLUGUTU
Correction Officer, Priest & Author.
Cell: 0208 455 296
Email: [email protected]

body-container-line