The Ghana Armwrestling Federation (GAF) brought excitement and energy to the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons with the much-anticipated Prison Battle contest, blending sportsmanship and discipline between officers and inmates.

The event formed part of the “Prison 360” initiative, introduced by the Director-General of the Ghana Prisons Service, Patience Baffoe-Bonnie, which seeks to provide inmates with a platform to showcase their talents and support their transformation through positive engagement.

Under the theme, “Using sports as a tool for inmates’ reformation and rehabilitation”, the maiden edition of the “Prison Battle” came alive with fierce contests, as inmates and officers exhibited raw power and passion for the sport of arm wrestling.

As cheers and chants echoed in support of their favorite contestants, the tension rose steadily, with some spectators also taking the time to study the skills and techniques in arm wrestling.

It was a show of strength in the men’s 60 to 70kg division as Daniel Yaw Bortey crushed his rivals to take first place, leaving Attah Yao to finish runner-up.

Elsewhere in the men’s 71–81kg division, Wusah, showing no signs of fatigue, overpowered Paul Efebutse in a fiercely competitive battle to seal his spot.

Sixtus Boing topped the men’s 81kg to 90kg category, while Samuel Oduro Asante also pinned down Eric Adjei Bawuah in the finals of the 90+kg division.

In the women’s category, Joy Joseph and SCO Evelyn Harvey both secured first place in the 70kg and 80kg division, respectively, while Veronica Djaasaa defeated Patience Botwe to win the 90+kg category.

President of the Ghana Armwrestling Federation, Charles Osei Asibey, in his speech, said he was excited to partner with the Ghana Prisons Service to support this initiative.

He noted that armwrestling, which has gained global recognition, has already produced world champions for Ghana, hence the need to master the craft to achieve excellence. 

He pledged that the Ghana Armwrestling Federation would be open to recruiting some of the top-performing arm wrestlers once they had completed their prison sentences.