A group of students from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) have extended a helping hand to the Kumasi Central Prisons.
The students who are beneficiaries of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation’s (GNPC) foundation’s scholarship believe that every citizen has a responsibility toward the poor and the needy in society. It is in this vein they organised themselves to impact the lives of the prisoners.
Leader of the group known as GNPC Cohort 4, Mr Richmond Danso, said they thought it wise to donate vocational equipment like Kente weaving machines, sewing machines, blacksmith and leather works materials among others.
He holds that providing such equipment to the prisoners will aid their acquisition of vocational skills which will benefit them when they are set free.
“The fact is that the prisons lack the necessary things to reform and transform the lives of the prisoners for integration into society. So, we decided to put the items together to support the prisons so that the inmates can acquire the necessary skills for work to prevent them from going back to their unlawful acts.”
Mr Danso took the opportunity to plead with the general public not to hesitate in reaching out to the poor and needy including the prisoners because the integration of the freed persons into society is challenging.
“Because of stigmatization, they are not offered job opportunities and they have no capital to start businesses of their own. So, we plead with organizations and philanthropists to assist us when we knock on their doors to support the freedmen.”
The Assistant Director of Prisons, Alhaji Osman Kasambadu, who received the items on behalf of the prison was thankful to the GNPC Cohort 4 for their kind gesture.
He also lamented the feeding situation in his outfit noting that the fee allocated for a prisoner is GH₵1.80p per day with a population of 2,056 inmates. According to him, the situation needs to be looked at again by the government.
