PR Unit Of Ghana Prisons Service Receive Support From Prison Aid Foundation

The Prisons Aid Foundation, an NGO, has presented two flat screen Television sets to the Public Relations Unit of the Ghana Prisons Service to support its operations.

Mr John Ayertey Maunger, the Founder and President of the Foundation, presenting the television sets said he decided to support the Service because a visit to the PR unit of the Service indicated that they had no functioning television set.

He said his desire to venture into supporting the activities of the prisons and its inmates was borne out of the great work, Mr Ibrahim Oppong Kwarteng, the Ambassador Extraordinaire of Prison was doing to support Prisons reforms.

He said as part of his continuous support, he had notices of certain things the Service lacked and that he would endeavour to provide them, if he gets to his base in London.

He said the focus of his Foundation would be to support both the ex-convicts and the Service in their day to day operations.

'We will also educate the society to stop stigmatising against ex-convicts and allow them to integrate nicely into the society,' he added.

He said the Foundation would also support the ex-convicts with technical and financial assistance to enable them to properly integrate into society.

Mr Ayertey said one other focus would be in the area of counselling for the ex-convicts upon their release from Prisons and encouraged them that all was not lost.

Mr L.K.A Ansah, Director of Prisons in charge of Services and Technical, expressed gratitude to the Founder of the Foundation for the gesture in supporting the Service to operate effectively.

He said the television sets would help the Unit to monitor the news on regular basis and also keep abreast with current happenings.

He said the Service had been collaborating with other State institutions to better serve the inmates.

Deputy Superintendent of Prisons, Vitalis Alyeh, the Public Relations Officer, Ghana Prisons Services commended Mr Oppong Kwarteng for his works to improve Prisons reforms in the country.

He said as a result of the Ambassador's television programme, 'Time with the Prisoner' a lot of the inmates have been released, because some State institutions made follow-ups on their cases.

He said as part of the works of the two Ambassadors of Prison, selected by the Service, the remand block of the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons has been expanded to accommodate more inmates.

He urged individuals and corporate institutions to emulate the gesture of the Foundation by supporting the day to day operations of the Service and the rehabilitation of the Prisons.

Mr Oppong Kwarteng, who is also the Executive Director of Crime Check Foundation, said it was through his Ambassadorial work that he met the Founder of Prisons Aid Foundation and with his desire in Prisons, he encouraged him to support the Services.

He pledged to work closely with individuals and organisations to continue supporting the activities of the Ghana Prisons Service and inmates, adding that, a lot must be done to support the Prison reforms.

GNA
By Morkporkpor Anku, GNA