Bright Simons of IMANI Africa has expressed concerns about Interior Minister-Designate, Hon. Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak’s stance on improving the welfare of prison inmates.
While acknowledging the Minister-Designate’s concern about the inadequate funding for feeding prisoners, Simons questioned the practicality of his proposal to involve the private sector as a solution.
Accordingly, he expressed skepticism about the potential of privatizing prisons to address the issue effectively.
“Let’s explore this. Yes, it is true that Ghana spends just $3.6 on food for each prisoner per month. This is drastically down from the ~$20 a month per prisoner the country used to spend in 2009.
“This is as tragic as knowing that dog owners in Austin, Texas, spend on average 30x (~$7200) what the average parent spends on the average child in Ghana per year (~$240). But the problem here is that prisons don’t generate income”.
Bright Simons
Simons further highlighted that despite efforts to generate revenue through farming and utilizing skilled prison labor for contracts, the total annual earnings of the entire Prisons Service amount to less than $40,000.
He explained that the government allocates funds for prison operations each year—approximately $50 million last year, for example—but not all of this amount is disbursed.
He revealed that the bulk of the allocated funds is used to pay salaries and allowances for prison staff, with only a small fraction, slightly over 2.5%, being spent on food rations for inmates. “Even less for general upkeep”.
Bright Simons highlighted the financial struggles of Kumasi Central Prison, where monthly expenses for soap, food, and other necessities total approximately $10,000—though even securing half that amount can be challenging.
He, thus, questioned the practicality of privatizing prisons in Ghana, raising concerns about how the government would handle such a transition.
Specifically, he asked whether the 6,000 prison officers and administrators would be transferred to the private concessionaire and if the $4 million monthly personnel and operations budget would still be allocated to the investor.
Simons pointed out that in countries like the US, private prison contracts are based on the average cost of incarceration, but in Ghana, most of these costs are directed toward prison officers and staff, raising concerns about how such a model would work locally.
“That is why there is one prison service employee to 2.5 prison inmates in Ghana compared with 5 prisoners for each prison service employee in the United States”.
Bright Simons
Flaws in Prison Privatization Proposal Highlighted
Moreover, Bright Simons argued that the current budget allocated for the upkeep of prisoners leaves no room for private businesses to introduce meaningful innovations in prisoner welfare.
He explained that if a private entity were to manage Kumasi Prison and received $10,000 monthly to care for 1,800 inmates, the conditions would likely worsen, as the amount is insufficient and barely comparable to the cost of a luxury vehicle in a year.
“Of course, the private investor can sack two-thirds of prison service employees. If he or she then keeps half of the savings and applies the remaining half to welfare improvements, then we would be getting close to spending something decent on the prisoners”.
“But will the prison guards be happy with the tripling of current workload and will the NDC ruling party be ready to face the wrath of the unions?”
Bright Simons
Simons pointed out that the Prisons Service has been hiring an average of 450 new officers annually, positions often regarded as valuable by members of the ruling party.
He then questioned whether the incoming Interior Minister has engaged with those actively working on prison reform in Ghana to gain insights into their challenges and efforts.
Simons argued that the critical question to address is whether the government can consistently provide the necessary funding for prisoner upkeep.
He highlighted that even the approximately $75,000 needed monthly to maintain prisoners nationwide is often delayed, and doubling this amount to $150,000 would still be a manageable expense.
He pointed out that this amount is slightly more than what Ghana paid SML daily in 2022-2023 without receiving any significant value in return. “If the country is really looking for solutions, it knows what to do”.
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