Justice Clement Honyenuga
Sixteen inmates at the Kumasi Central Prisons in the Ashanti Regional capital, have been set free after many years on remand without trial, as part of government’s efforts to decongest the prisons.
The inmates were let out under the ‘Justice For All Programme (JFAP),’ which aims at ending cost and diseases caused by prison overcrowding.
Forty-five others were also granted bail, while 60 applications were struck out for various reasons through judicial proceedings administered by the three special in-prison high courts set up at the Kumasi Central Prisons that heard a total of 133 cases.
Justice Clement Honyenuga, of the Court of Appeal, who presided over the event, said 32 applications for bail were refused by the special courts that also had Justices Angelina Mensah-Homrah and Constant Hometowu – both high court judges – sitting.
According to Justice Honyenuga, 20 of the applicants were absent, indicating that some of them had already been granted bail or discharged by a trial court.
He lauded the JFAP for having helped to reduce the prison population in the country and asserted that the state has a duty to protect and defend the rights of citizens accused of any crime.
The JFAP initiative is being funded by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) with support from civil society organisations.
The programme was established on the basis of Article 14(4) of the 1992 Republican Constitution, which declares that a person who is arrested or detained, but has not received a trial within reasonable period of time is entitled to unconditional release or release subject to conditions necessary for reappearance for judicial proceedings.
From Ernest Kofi Adu, Kumasi