Newly appointed Acting Director-General of Ghana Prisons Service, Mr. Isaac Kofi Egyir, on Wednesday, September 22, 2021, paid a courtesy call on the Chairman of The Church of Pentecost, Apostle Eric Nyamekye, at the church’s General Headquarters, at La in Accra.
The Director-General was accompanied by some top management members of the Prisons Administration such as the Director of Prisons (DOP), Mr. Francis Omane-Addo (Director-General, Welfare and Human Resource), DOP Mrs. Patience Baffoe-Bonnie (Director-General Services and Technical) and Chaplain-General, Assistant Director of Prisons (ADP), Apostle James Teye Tetteh.
According to the Director-General, he and his team embarked on the visit to express their appreciation to The Church of Pentecost, which, he said, has been a major stakeholder in terms of developmental projects in the Ghana Prisons Service.
“Upon my appointment as the acting Director-General about a month ago, I thought it wise to pay a courtesy call on the Chairman of the church to show our appreciation to the church because The Church of Pentecost has been a major stakeholder as far as prison facilities are concerned,” he said.
He added: “The Chairman of the church has also been a spiritual father to the Service. So, I am here to present myself to him and to ask for his counselling and blessing as I take over the administration of the Prison Service. I wish to express our heartfelt appreciation to The Church of Pentecost for all the support the church has given to the Ghana Prison Service, especially with the construction of camp prisons.”
The camp prisons, he noted, have come at a very opportune time, adding that, it has helped us fight the budgetary constraints facing the Service and decongest the main wards in the prisons.
“We are looking for a situation where we can have the re-integration of ex-convicts back into society,” he disclosed, adding that, the camp prions will help inmates to come out from the prisons.
He also stated that the re-integration exercise will also add more value to the inmates and also affect their thinking as they join their families back home to contribute meaningfully to society.
The Director-General appealed to the church to consider building a fifth prison facility at Enchi in the Western North Region due to its strategic location since there is no prison facility in the new region.
In his response, Apostle Eric Nyamekye was full of joy to receive the team. He congratulated Mr. Egyir on his appointment as the Acting Director-General of the Prisons Service.
“Your appointment comes with a heavy responsibility because you need to turn situations around. In leadership, you look at the gaps and fix them. With this opportunity, you must be able to see what your predecessors couldn’t see and fix them,” he said.
Apostle Nyamekye assured the Director-General of the church’s continuous prayers for the success of his administration.
He disclosed that the second camp prison project ongoing at Nsawam would be completed and commissioned in November this year after the Ejura prison which was commissioned earlier their year. He explained that the ones at Obuasi and Damongo are at various stages of completion.
With regards to the request for the fifth camp prison, the Chairman assured the Director-General that it would be considered once the ongoing ones were completed.
“These correctional facilities were initiated by God and the hand of God will complete it,” he said.
Apostle Nyamekye revealed that the church is putting some funds together to pay for the fines of some inmates who were incarcerated due to their inability to pay their fines to release them to decongest the prison facilities. He explained that the church will organise counselling sessions for the beneficiary ex-convicts so that they come back not as burdens to society.
Present at the short meeting were the General Secretary of The Church of Pentecost, Apostle Alexander Nana Yaw Kumi-Larbi; the International Missions Director (IMD), Apostle Emmanuel Agyemang Bekoe, and the Projects Development and Estate Manager, Pastor James Orhin Agyin.
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