The government has approved an increase in the daily feeding allowance for prisoners from GH¢1.80 to GH¢5, marking the first upward adjustment in 15 years.

The Minister for the Interior, Mr Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak, announced this when he appeared before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament on Tuesday, September 30, 2025.

He explained that the new rate had received presidential approval and would be captured in the 2026 Budget, with GH¢10 million expected to be released to cover the last quarter of this year.

Members of the committee described the GH¢1.80 allocation, which has remained unchanged since 2010, as grossly inadequate for providing three meals a day to inmates.

The Director-General of the Ghana Prisons Service, Mrs Patience Baffoe-Bonnie, told the committee that poor feeding arrangements affect the health and well-being of prisoners.

A committee member, Mr Sebastian Fred Deh, drew comparisons with the GH¢2.50 per child per day under the school feeding programme, arguing that the situation violated the Mandela Rules, which require adequate food for inmates. He urged the government to release the approved funds without delay to ease the burden on the prison system.

Mrs Baffoe-Bonnie revealed that the Prisons Service has been supplementing meals with produce from gardens, fish ponds, and poultry projects in various facilities, as well as occasional support from churches.

She cautioned that food shortages remain the main cause of unrest in prisons and emphasised the need for improved rations to safeguard both inmates and prison officers.

She added that although the new GH¢5 rate had been approved, the Service would continue to push for further adjustments in the 2026 fiscal year to reflect the real cost of feeding adults in custody.