The Director-General of Prisons in charge of Services, Mrs. Patience Baffoe-Bonnie (ESQ), has disclosed that the Mahama government has approved an upward adjustment of GHC5 per inmate daily, though the funds are yet to be released.
She revealed that until recently, prison authorities were managing just GHC1.80 per day to feed each inmate, an amount she described as grossly inadequate.
Mrs. Baffoe-Bonnie cautioned that poor feeding remains a major cause of unrest in Ghana’s prisons.
Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee on Tuesday, September 30, she said, “Once the feeding is wrong, it has ripple effects on health and every other thing; we are working assiduously to ensure the rules change. We are hopeful the GHC5 a day will be increased in the course of 2026 to reflect the feeding regime for a disgruntled adult, an angry adult behind bars,” she said.
She explained that prison authorities currently rely on their own gardens, a small fish pond, and donations from churches to supplement food supplies.
According to her, inadequate feeding often sparks riots, putting prison officers at serious risk.
“We have to note on this platform that one of the things that is giving cause for inmates to riot is food. And so, we do everything within our means to ensure that as much as possible, we’re containing the inmates without the riots.
“Because if there are any riots, the poor prison officer becomes the first point of attack before any intervention. I want to say that beyond the feeding, there are also challenges,” she stressed.
Beyond the issue of feeding, Mrs. Baffoe-Bonnie called for broader reforms to improve prison conditions and emphasised that inmate welfare is essential to national security.
“If we want to have serious public safety in this country, we have to prioritise the needs of prisoners. Because they’re part of us, they will be with us, and we don’t know who will be our next guest,” she stated.
