'We still have feelings' — Wontumi proposes conjugal visit facilities for married prisoners

Mr Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, has reportedly called on Ghana’s prison authorities to consider creating private facilities where married inmates can spend intimate time with their spouses during scheduled visits.

The proposal was disclosed by broadcast journalist Kwame Tanko of Lawson Media after he visited the former Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison, where he is serving a prison sentence.

According to Mr Tanko, Chairman Wontumi argued that being incarcerated does not take away prisoners’ emotional and biological needs and urged the authorities to explore ways of enabling married inmates to maintain intimacy with their spouses.

“Prisoners are human beings who still have natural feelings,” was the central argument attributed to Mr Wontumi, who reportedly proposed the establishment of designated hostels or private cabins for conjugal visits.

He reportedly suggested that Ghana could draw lessons from jurisdictions where inmates are permitted to have private time with their spouses under regulated conditions.

Mr Wontumi also reportedly linked the proposal to concerns about alleged same-sex sexual activity in prisons, arguing that allowing married inmates opportunities to maintain intimacy with their spouses could help address the issue.

Conjugal visits are not currently part of Ghana’s standard prison visitation arrangements. Any move to introduce such a system would therefore require consideration of legal, security, operational and inmate welfare concerns.