Recently, there have been numerous reports of prisoners or people in police custody escaping. These reports have the potential to cause panic and some apprehension in society as some of these escapees were convicted of armed robbery or murder. Thus, when such people escape and their whereabouts not known, people will feel unsafe.
Perhaps this highlights the urgent need for prison reform. One of the promises of the coalition government when they came into office was that a thorough prison reform will be conducted. This was to look into the conditions of the prisons and the prisoners.
It could be recalled that a commission was set up but it is not clear whether that commission completed and submitted its report up till now. One thing is clear, the situation of the prisons and prisoners leave a lot to be desired.
It is well known that the current prison at Mile II was built during the colonial days and that ever since, only renovations and maintenance have been done there periodically. Perhaps it’s time to rethink the purpose of prisons and make sure that the conditions of the prisons commensurate with the objectives.
Are the prisons meant to only punish wrongdoers or to rehabilitate them into society? No one will deny that the true purpose of a prison should be the reformation of the convicts.
The government, through the Ministry of the Interior, should look into the issue of prisons and prisoners. The reformation of prisons will go a long way in reassuring the public of their safety.
As it is, there are many citizens who do not feel safe at all especially after the few serious incidents that have taken place where people were found in their own homes and killed.
As it is the duty of the government to provide security for its citizens, no area of security should be left unattended to. There must be reformation now!
