Kumasi: 16 Prisoners Freed

• Posted on November 7, 2017
• by Ellsamwise King
• Comment

Kumasi Central Prisons has released some 16 inmates following their discharge by justices who sat on their cases.

Some 45 others who were also fortunate were granted bail under same circumstance.

High and Appeals Court Justices of the Justice for All Programme spent two days in Kumasi for the in-prison court sitting.

The Justice for All Programme was established in 2007, and it seeks to alleviate overcrowding in prisons in the country by setting up special in-prison courts to adjudicate remand prisoner cases throughout the country.

The programme is overseen by the Judicial Service of Ghana, the Office of the Attorney General, the Ghana Prisons and the Ghana Police Service.

Out of the total 133 applications brought before the courts for hearing, 32 applications for bail and discharge were refused while 16 were struck out for various reasons and 20 of the applicants were absent.

Hundreds of inmates in the various prisons across the country have benefited from the programme since its inception.

Chairman of the Justice for All, Justice Clement Jackson Honyenuga, speaking to the media thanked the media for their support and cooperation.

He said three high courts were established in the prison and heard cases of varied degrees, describing the hearing at Kumasi as a success.

He said had it not been for the Justice for All Programme, a lot of prisoners would have been locked up there due to financial or other challenges.

Meanwhile, he indicated that efforts were underway to see to it that the remand population is reduced further down, however describing the in-prison hearing in Kumasi as a success.

Source: Today