The Anglican Diocesan Guilds Council in the Anglican Diocese of Accra (ADOA) has donated assorted items worth GH₵30,000 to the Ghana Prisons Service.
The donation, which took place at the Ghana Prisons Service headquarters in Accra for onward distribution to prisons across the country, especially in the North, was meant to ameliorate the plights and promote the wellbeing of inmates.
The items included 90 boxes of ceiling fans, bags of rice, gallons of cooking oil, tomato paste, toiletries, bags of assorted used clothes, and washing powder.
Madam Wilhelmina Graves, Director of Administration, ADOA, who made the presentation on behalf of the Accra Diocesan Bishop, The Right Reverend Dr Daniel Sylvanus Mensa Torto, said, the donation followed a request by the Prisons Service to reduce the difficulties faced by inmates.
It was also necessitated by the dictates of the Bible and commandment of Jesus in Mathew 25:35-36 to reach out to the needy, feed the hungry and cloth the naked, take care of the sick and visit those in prison.
“As a church, we think about all citizens, especially those who have found themselves on the other side of the law and are currently imprisoned,” she said.
The Diocesan Administrator expressed optimism that the items would augment the Government’s efforts in providing for inmates in the country.
Mr Nathaniel N. Agyeman Onyinah, Deputy Director of Prisons, who received the items on behalf of the Director General of Prisons Service, expressed appreciation to the leadership and members of the Church for extending love to the Service.
The items, he said, would supplement the Service’s efforts at caring for inmates, and called on other individuals and organisations to support the prisons.
Canon ADP Selwyn Sylvanus Adama Okai, Chaplain-General, Ghana Prisons Service, said a needs assessment was conducted during a visit to the prisons and that the presentation of the ceiling fans had come at an opportune time.
He said the over 47 prisons across the country with not less than 20 dormitories in each prison, needed fans, particularly in the north where the weather is very hot.
GNA