By BRIGHT NTRAMAH
The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has decried the stigmatisation of former prison inmates and called on the larger society to take the responsibility to welcome and work with these convicts so they do not become repeat offenders.
He said despite efforts by the prison service to refine the inmates, some are still reluctant to accept ex-convicts back into their folds and the former inmates continue to be stigmatised.
President Akufo-Addo, who was addressing intake 29 of the Prison Graduation, said the government is taking the necessary steps to address the challenges facing the service.
In all, 198 carrier officers were commissioned into the service. They are made up of 127 men and 71 women. They passed the stringent entry requirements and underwent intensive training regimen.
President Akufo-Addo said government was committed to enhancing adequately the human resource capacity of the prison service through recruitment.
He stated that the government will continue to collaborate closely with the service to build the capacity of prison officers so that they can perform in accordance with best international practices.
Government, the President noted, will on its part, continue to provide support to help decongest the prisons to provide good living conditions for inmates and staff.
President Akufo-Addo thus assured the gathering that government will see to the completion of remand prison in Nsawam to ease pressure on existing facilities. He encouraged Public Private Partnership initiative to build more prisons.
He was grateful to the Pentecost Church for the initiative to build more prisons.
Mathew Amegbor picked the overall best graduating student.