The Ghana Prisons Service is pushing for a 280 per cent increase in the daily feeding fee for inmates -- that is from GH₵1.80p to GH₵5.00 per inmate.

The Ashanti Region Commander of the Service, Samuel Owusu Amponsah indicated that congestion, coupled with inadequate funds for feeding has taken a toll on the health of the inmates in the country. 

He said this while addressing members of the Action Chapel that had come to donate 200 bags of rice to the Kumasi Central and Amanfrom Prions on New Year’s Day.

“Although the government is doing its best, the money is not enough so we are asking that government to increase the feeding fee to 5.00.

“The quality of food is not good because the money is woefully inadequate,” he lamented.

The gesture of Action Chapel in Ashanti Region is under the "Compassion in Action" Project initiated by founder, Archbishop Nicholas Duncan Williams.

The project has for the past five years supported and given hope to prisoners across the country.

Mr Owusu Amponsah, who doubles as Deputy Director of Prisons, observed that but for the support from individuals and corporate Ghana, the situation would have been worse.

He then expressed his profound gratitude to the group for their charitable act adding that, “your gifts will really help us."

Head Pastor of Action Chapel International in Northern Ghana, Bishop James Nana Ofori Attah, said to add value to ex-convicts, the church has established a skills training and rehabilitation centre for prisoners near Prampram in the Greater Accra Region.

He also advised the youth to stay clear of bad friends and company. He noted that bad company corrupts good behaviour.