TAMALE INMATES UNHAPPY (PAGE 3)

INMATES of the Tamale Central Prison have expressed concern about delays in the adjudication of their cases in court, since that is a denial of justice.
They said the adjournment of some cases by the courts as a result of lack of witnesses, effective coordination between the police and the courts, and inconclusive investigations were partly responsible for the delays.
The inmates, who are mainly remand prisoners, expressed their concerns when the Northern Regional Minister, Mr Stephen Sumani Nayina, and his deputy, Mr Moses Mabengba, interacted with them as part of their familiarisation tour of some government departments and security agencies in the Tamale Metropolis.
There are 251 inmates in the Tamale Central Prison. Out of the number, 10 are females, 168 are convicts; prisoners on remand are 83, while 47 are Fulanis.
The Fulanis have jail terms of between five and 30 years and were mainly involved in murder and armed robbery cases.
The inmates cited the instance where a significant number of cases such as murder and armed robbery were still pending at the district court in Tamale; a situation which eventually affected them.
“We, however, blame ourselves because perhaps we took a wrong path that is why we are here; but one must not forget that it is not every prisoner on remand who would be jailed because until proven guilty we are still innocent,” one of them said.
They, therefore, appealed to the law courts and the Ghana Police Service to work as a team to dispose of all cases pending at the courts without any further delay, since “justice delayed is justice denied”.
Some of the prisoners who had served for about 30 years at the prisons and appeared old, sick and frail, appealed to the prison authorities to liaise with health authorities to enable them to seek medical attention immediately.
For his part, Mr Nayina advised the prisoners not to be “too upset” about their conditions.
“You must reflect on your past life and chart a new course for yourselves. But regarding your concerns, we would see what we can do about them,” he stated.
He also expressed concern about the high number of Fulanis in the prisons and pointed out that it was not a healthy sign for them, since thorough investigations by the police had identified Fulanis as perpetrators of a good number of armed robberies, murders and rape cases in some communities of the region.
Mr Mabengba advised the prisoners to heed instructions from prison authorities and not to do anything untoward that would further worsen their plight.