The Deputy Attorney-General, Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, has reaffirmed the commitment of his outfit to pass the Community Service Bill into law.

He says processes toward making the Bill a reality are almost complete.  

“Now we have the draft Bill. What is left is stakeholder consultation. Thereafter, we will have the final draft which will be placed before the cabinet for approval before it goes to parliament,” he said on Joy FM.

Though he did not give a specific timeline as to when the Bill will finally be passed he was certain this will be done within the shortest possible time.

“From where we are now, within the next 60 days plus, I think it should be able to go through some of the consultations,” he said.

Speaking on Joy FM's Super Morning Show, on Thursday, July 7, he stated that the Attorney-General is committed to making this a reality, therefore will do anything within his mandate to make sure the Bill is passed.

He, thus, called on all Ghanaians to support the implementation of this Bill by making inputs

The Community Service Bill, which is an alternative to a custodial sentence for convicted offenders in respect of certain types of offences, would see offenders rendering unpaid public work within a community and for its benefit for a period not exceeding the term of imprisonment for which the court had sentenced them.

Many experts have argued that this is a better option than subjecting people who commit minor offenses to prison sentencing. They also believe the Community Service Bill, if passed, will help deal with the congestion in the Prison services.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Attorney-General, had earlier disclosed that the Ministry of Justice has plans of establishing a community service structure for convicts found culpable of minor crimes.

The 45-page proposal, he said, will have a structure for national, regional and district levels.

According to the Deputy-Attorney General, the proposal will also include arresting officers, prison officers and a social welfare office to aid the Ministry to ensure the success of the community structure.

“We have proposed actually to have a structure that will be responsible for community service. In fact, it is going to be run throughout the country so we need to have the structure at the national level, regional level and district level…depending on the case and the social inquiry report. The Judge can also decide that looking at what this accused person has done, it will be in his interest and that of the state for him to do community service.

“There is a plan to also have social welfare people because social welfare is responsible for investigating the background of the convict. It might be that the convict has some background that if we were able to probe into, there will be no need to sentence such a person to prison,” he said on The Law on Sunday.

Per the new proposal, the option of community service will be left to the discretion of the Judge based on the social inquiry report and the circumstance of the crime committed.

This new proposal is coming into force to resolve cases where convicts cannot afford fines and thus, serve prison terms. It will also prevent wealthy people from being punished for crimes committed because they are well to do and could settle fines.

According to Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, the community service structure would also allow accused persons to appeal against the community service imposed on them.