Thirteen inmates of the Nsawam Medium Security Prison have been granted bail as part of the Justice For All Programme.

The inmates, who had been detained for over two or more years without trial, were granted bail on lenient terms following a special in-prison court sitting presided over by Justice Marie-Louise Simmons of the High Court Criminal Division.

The sitting, which saw 17 total applications, resulted in bail for 13 individuals. Four applications were denied due to aggravating circumstances in their cases. Alleged offences ranged from murder, theft, and intrusion. 

Their bail ranged from the sum of GHS 50,000 to GHS 200,000.

Justice Angelina Mensah Homiah, who presented the outcomes, commended Justice Simmons for her judicious exercise of discretion.

She said the granting of bail for these 13 individuals was the latest success of the programme credited with drastically reducing Ghana’s remand prison population over nearly two decades.

Justice Mensah Homiah provided compelling statistics demonstrating the programme’s systemic impact.

“In 2007, at the programme’s inception, the remand population stood at 4,218, constituting 30.57 percent of the total prison population of 13,800. 

“By 2019, following sustained intervention, the remand population had fallen to 2,083, or 13.92 per cent of the total.

“In 2024, the figure reached its lowest point at 1,500 remand inmates, representing just 10.6 per cent of the prison population,” she said.

She said the 2025 data showed a slight increase to 1,741 remand inmates, 12.47 per cent of the total, which officials attributed to ongoing case backlogs but remained significantly lower than historical figures.

Justice Mensah Homiah called on investigators from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to expedite the processing of bail bonds.

She said their absence from the prison sitting potentially delayed the inmates’ chance to spend Christmas in their homes.

She emphasised the role of plea bargaining under Section 128 of Act 1079 as a critical tool for further decongestion. 

She cited a successful example from Uganda, where over 200 cases were resolved in three days through plea bargaining clinics.

She urged the Attorney General’s Office to expedite such cases to allow eligible inmates to plead guilty, serve their sentence, and go free, thereby permanently reducing remand lists.

The Justice for All Programme was initiated in 2007 under the leadership of former Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood. 

Its operations are spearheaded by a National Steering Committee comprising stakeholders from the Judicial Service, the Attorney General’s Office, the Ghana Police Service, the Prisons Service, the Legal Aid Authority, and civil society groups like Paul’s Foundation.

The programme operates by vetting nationwide remand lists, pre-qualifying inmates, and obtaining approval from the Chief Justice before holding special court sittings within prison walls. 

This latest sitting at Nsawan was one of three held simultaneously across the country, underscoring a continued national commitment to ensuring that justice is delivered for all citizens.