Interior Minister Dr. Kwame Addo Kufuor has advocated for new penal measures to decongest the country’s prisons. According to him mild offenders could be sentenced to “social services such as sweeping of public places, markets and gutters." The minister made the comments in an interview with Joy News after his visit to the Nsawam prisons to be acquainted with the problems inmates go through. Asked whether government was considering reviewing the prison laws before the elections, Dr. Addo Kufuor said it has to go through some constitutional procedures, adding the next government will be in a better position to implement that. The inmates appealed for a review of the amnesty policy, which they claim did not favour those at the Nsawam prisons. They bemoaned the number of years remand prisoners spend in the jail without trial, and appealed to the minister to intervene. According to them, remand prisoners spent five to ten years in prison without being convicted by a competent court of law. “If your prerogative of mercy does not come to us, the courts would not have anything to do with us” one of the inmates appealed. Hon Addo Kufuor gave the assurance that his ministry would vigorously pursue the matter to ensure that inmates on remand get a fair trial. “A remand prisoner who stays in prison for ten years is obviously not serving justice,” he said. Author: Nathan Gadugah