The Ghana Prisons Service says it does not have the core mandate to reform prisoners. Public Relations Officer ASP Courage Atsem said the core mandate of the Service is to ensure the safe custody and welfare of prisoners. ASP Atsem was responding to concerns by Ashanti Regional Police Commander Augustine Gyening to the effect that, the Prisons Service is failing to serve their purpose of reforming those sent there. The arrest of a gang of ex-convicts alleged to have terrorized residents of Kumasi has thrown up questions about the ability of the country’s prisons to reform inmates. However, ASP Atsem told Joy News Thursday that proper reformation and rehabilitation of prisoners will require resourcing. “The NRCD (46) of 1972 that spells out the mandate of the Ghana Prisons Service says that, it shall be the duty of the Ghana Prisons Service to ensure safe custody and welfare of prisoners and whenever practicable, (underlined) shall undertake the reformation and rehabilitation,” ASP Atsem quotated. The PRO said their focus has since been on safe custody and welfare of prisoners, even though they have been doing some reformation and rehabilitation to the best of their ability. He however said the kind of reformation and rehabilitation they undertake- religious programmes meant to work on the offending conducts of the inmates- are not adequate to their expectation. He said the Prisons Service has taken the initiative to work on a new law that has made provisions to address this and other challenges facing it. Play the attached audio for excerpts of the interview