Remand prisoners at the Tamale Central Prison are to benefit from psycho-therapy services to fine-tune their thinking, behaviour and emotions to ensure that they lead normal lives.

This initiative is to be undertaken by Total Life Enhancement Centre, Ghana (TOLEC GH), a mental health organisation, as part of the Harnessing Opportunities for Prison Ex-convicts (HOPE) Project, being implemented by Centre for Social Development (CSD) Reform, an NGO.

The project seeks to protect and improve the welfare of prisoners and ex-convicts.

Under the project, the Northern Regional office of the Legal Aid Commission is providing legal aid services to the remand prisoners to secure justice for them, and the TOLEC GH has now been roped in to provide counselling services for them to ensure their wellbeing within and outside the prison.

Mr Peter Mintir Amadu, Executive Director of TOLEC GH, who outlined activities to be undertaken as part of the initiative at a meeting with the authorities of the Tamale Central Prison in Tamale on Monday, said the initiative would help remand prisoners to be more functional and lead normal lives.

Mr Mintir Amadu said this would help them reintegrate them into society to contribute to national development.

Deputy Director of Prison (DDP) Mr Yaw Tannor, Northern Regional Commander of the Ghana Prison Service, lauded the initiative expressing the readiness of the Prison Service for its implementation for the benefit of the remand prisoners and the country as a whole.

DDP Tannor said some of the remand prisoners claim they do not deserve to be on remand and haboured some ill-feelings against society adding the counselling services would help them to relate well with members of society.