Minister-Designate for the Interior, Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, has decried the dire conditions in Ghana’s prisons, with a particular focus on the inadequate daily feeding budget for inmates.During his vetting before the Parliamentary Appointments Committee on Friday, January 24, the Asawase MP expressed shock over the GHC1.80 allocated to feed each prisoner daily.

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He described the amount as insufficient and inhumane, calling for urgent reforms to improve the welfare of inmates.“I was shocked when I heard that the rationing for feeding a prisoner in Ghana is GHC1.80 for the whole day,” he said.

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“I doubt, with the greatest of respect, that even the cats and dogs in our houses—how much food do we give them? Yet, we put our own compatriots, because of one mistake or the other, in trying to correct them, we feed them with GHC1.80 and expect them to be healthy.”Muntaka pledged to prioritize prison reform if his nomination is approved, stressing that the feeding budget would be a key area of focus.

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“It is a very serious thing, and I assure my colleagues that I will pay attention to it and address it,” he added.Beyond nutrition, the Minister-Designate highlighted the broader challenges facing the prison system, including severe overcrowding and unsanitary conditions, which have made inmates vulnerable to diseases such as tuberculosis, scabies, and other communicable illnesses.

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He noted that the current state of the prisons undermines efforts to rehabilitate inmates and called for comprehensive measures to address these systemic issues.The Ghana Prisons Service has repeatedly appealed for government intervention to improve living conditions for inmates, but little progress has been made.

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