The Government of Ghana has approved an increment in the daily feeding allowance for prisoners from GHS 1.80 to GHS 5, a move officials say is an important first step in addressing decades-long challenges in the country’s prison system.
The announcement was confirmed during proceedings of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, where both the Director-General of the Ghana Prisons Service, Mrs. Patience Baffoe-Bonnie, and the Minister for the Interior, Hon. Muntaka Mubarak Mohammed, shed light on the realities and prospects of prison feeding.
“Gladly, we proposed GHS 10 and were granted 5. After consultations, President Mahama actually instructed that the amount should be increased to GHS 5. An amount of 10 million, which was supposed to cover the last quarter of the year, was to be released. But it is yet to be released, even though the approval has been given”.
Director-General of the Ghana Prisons Service, Mrs. Patience Baffoe-Bonnie
The Director-General also revealed the stark reality of prison feeding under the previous allowance. Out of the GHS 1.80 allocated per inmate daily, contractors retained profits, leaving approximately GHS 1 per prisoner in actual food value. “So practically, we are feeding one cedi,” she said.
To supplement the shortfall, the Prison Service launched what it calls the Director-General Kitchen Support Project, an initiative encouraging all prison facilities nationwide to establish small gardens, fish ponds, poultry farms, and other livestock ventures.
These measures, together with occasional support from religious bodies, have helped prisons stretch their resources. “We are feeding beyond 10 cedis, and it is through ingenuity,” Mrs. Baffoe-Bonnie added, highlighting the creative coping strategies adopted under extreme financial strain.
She stressed that feeding goes beyond welfare; it is a matter of security and public safety. Poor feeding regimes, she explained, can trigger riots and unrest in prisons.
“Of all the things that have given cause for inmates to riot, it’s food. And so, we do everything within our walls to ensure that as much as possible, we are containing the inmates without a riot. Because if there is any riot, the poor prison officer becomes the first point of attack before any intervention”.
Director-General of the Ghana Prisons Service, Mrs. Patience Baffoe-Bonnie
Minister’s Commitment to Feeding Reforms
The Interior Minister, Hon. Muntaka Mubarak Mohammed, echoed her concerns and underscored the urgency of reforming prison feeding. He recalled that he had raised the issue passionately during his vetting and had since pursued it vigorously at the ministry.
Expressing gratitude for the President’s approval of the increment, he noted that the budgetary process now recognizes prison feeding as a distinct line item for greater transparency.
“What used to happen was that prison feeding got bulked in within the budget of the prisons. So we were not able to see it standing alone, to see how small it is. I have been able to convince my colleague, the Finance Minister, to let it stand alone. And now you see it in the budget: prison feeding standing at 40 million, that’s 10 million per quarter”.
Interior Minister, Hon. Muntaka Mubarak Mohammed
The Minister acknowledged that the GHS 5 allocation is not sufficient when compared to real costs. “Even children who just eat once, we use GHS 2.50. Meaning that for adults, even if we are going to use that same rate, the minimum should be about seven cedis and 50 pesewas“, he remarked.
“We proposed GHS 10. We were standing at seven and eight, but you know the budget envelope—they said they can manage with five for now. We are hoping that into 2027, we should be able to improve further”.
Interior Minister, Hon. Muntaka Mubarak Mohammed
Prison’s Worsening Conditions
Hon. Mohammed also painted a grim picture of conditions he had personally witnessed during prison visits. He recounted being shocked to discover that what was served as porridge resembled corn dough mashed in water, a stark indicator of the inadequacy of GHS 1.80 per inmate.
The financial limitations, he said, even forced prisons to reduce meals to once a day at one point. “It came to a time that we were feeding them only once in a day, because there’s no magic you can do with GHS 1.80. If not, there’s water that you are going to give. That was a danger we were sitting on,” he said.
To ease overcrowding and relieve pressure on resources, the government granted amnesty to about 900 inmates, reducing congestion from 36 percent to 34 percent. Yet, the Minister admitted, congestion remains a major challenge.
He outlined broader strategies aimed at long-term sustainability, including prison industrialization projects. These involve partnerships with the Ministry of Education and private actors to establish industries within prisons to produce furniture, sanitary pads, and uniforms, creating work opportunities and additional income streams for inmates.
Agricultural initiatives are also being scaled up. Traditional leaders across the country have donated tracts of land—ranging from 100 to 200 acres—for prison farming projects. These farms, coupled with support from the Ministry of Agriculture, are intended to ensure prisons can produce their own food while aligning with the national “Feeding Ghana” agenda.
“We are doing all this to help make sure that we produce all the food ourselves, whilst we use at least the little that is coming from the government for feeding, to make sure that, if for nothing, once they are there, they should be well fed”.
Interior Minister, Hon. Muntaka Mubarak Mohammed,
Both the Director-General and the Interior Minister emphasized that adequate feeding is central not only to inmate welfare but also to reducing health risks and maintaining discipline behind bars. While the increment to GHS 5 is far from the ideal target, they expressed hope that it marks the beginning of sustained reforms in prison management.
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