The Kumasi Central Prison is facing a severe overcrowding issue, with a population of nearly 1800 inmates, which is far beyond its intended capacity of 600 spaces.
This overcrowding is not unique to Kumasi but is prevalent in prisons across the country.
The situation has raised concerns among judges, legal practitioners, prison authorities, and various stakeholders due to the infringement of the rights of both incarcerated and remanded prisoners.
To address this issue, Ghana introduced the Justice for All Program in 2008, aiming to adjudicate cases of remand prisoners promptly.
The programme established mobile in-prison courts that provide free legal services to inmates awaiting trial. While this initiative has helped reduce the number of remand prisoners, it has not been sufficient to ensure adequate justice delivery.
Despite efforts to mitigate overcrowding, challenges persist. Justice Sir Dennis Dominic Adjei, a court of appeal judge and a member of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, highlighted the shortage of lawyers as a significant hurdle.
The limited number of legal professionals struggles to keep up with the growing number of prisoners, exacerbating delays in justice delivery.
In light of these challenges, Justice Adjei emphasised the importance of paralegal services in assisting lawyers. Paralegals can provide crucial support in legal processes, helping to expedite cases and ensure that prisoners receive fair treatment.
However, the implementation of paralegal services remains limited, hindering efforts to address the overcrowding issue effectively.
“It is a must that any person who is charged by a court must be represented by a lawyer, the African court has given several decisions against some countries such as Benin, Cote D’Ivoire, and Rwanda, the argument they put up is that we don’t have enough lawyers to meet the demands of accused persons. We must establish paralegal services in the country to support them. Some people languish in jail because they don’t have lawyers.”
Credit: myjoyonline.com