Justice Angelina Mensah-Homiah (2nd L) speaking with the media after the exercise
The Justice for All Programme (JFAP) has been held in Kumasi Central Prisons to help decongest the facility.
After an in-prison court sitting, Court of Appeal Judge, Justice Angelina Mensah-Homiah, said three persons were discharged unconditionally whilst 13 were granted bail.
Also, 13 inmates were refused bail with two having their cases struck out. In all, 31 cases were heard.
Justice Mensah-Homiah emphasised that victims of crimes must not be left out when talking about justice for all, adding that victims as well as offenders deserve justice.
“Communities and the nation as a whole must also see that justice is done. Therefore, beyond reduction in the remand population through the granting of bail, stakeholders in the criminal justice delivery system must also focus on expeditious trials which aim to reduce the time between arrest and final adjudication,” she stated.
The judge urged JFAP facilitators, particularly POS Foundation, to look beyond securing bail for remand prisoners.
“The In-prison free paralegal services ought to be extended to all prisons across the country. In this direction, I urge POS Foundation to collaborate with the Public Defender’s Office of the Legal Aid Commission,” she said.
Justice Mensah-Homiah assured the public that significant efforts were being made to ensure that no remand prisoner in Ghana is ‘locked and forgotten’.
She admonished investigators to be diligent and not to leave the vulnerable remand inmates to languish in prison for months and in some cases, years.
She made this admonition after an inmate was discovered to have spent five months in prison after being discharged by the Nkawie Circuit Court in February, 2024.
Founder and Executive Director of the POS Foundation, Jonathan Osei Owusu, said the exercise was spearheaded and funded by the Judicial Service and Open Society Foundation through POS Foundation.
He continued that the exercise has led to a drastic reduction in the remand population across the country and promised to move to other West African countries like Nigeria where its remand population is 70 percent more than the convict inmates.
Officer in Charge (OIC) at the Kumasi Central Prisons, CSP Alex Agyei, commended the presiding judges; Justice Hannah Taylor (Mrs) and Justice Fredrick Tetteh and the Judicial Service as well as POS Foundation for the exercise.
He noted that the exercise has helped to decongest the facility, and appealed to stakeholders to make the exercise quarterly.
The JFAP was established in 2007 to help decongest various prisons across the country and also to deliver justice for vulnerable remand prisoners whose trial had stuck or were yet to commence although they had spent months or years in custody.
FROM David Afum, Kumasi