The inmates of Forifori Camp Prison, in the Kwahu Afram Plains South District, Eastern Region of Ghana, have appealed to the people of goodwill to support them with food items and orbit fans for their prison cells, among other things, to make life bearable for them, especially as they undergo the final years of their prison terms.
They made their needs known during a visit by Priests and Religious of Donkorkrom Apostolic Vicariate to the prison on May 13, 2025.
In an interaction with the visitors, the inmates enumerated a list of items they said were essential to them, including medications, water closets, soap for bathing and washing, common phones to communicate with their families, medicine for skin rashes, food items, Bibles, boots for farming, and bags of cement for their kitchen.
Faced with the very poor living conditions of the 104 inmates at the Camp Prison, who survive on a daily meal of just GHc1.80, Mr. Jonathan Nii Commey, Chief Superintendent of Prisons, Officer-in-Charge, and District Prison’s Commander, admitted that he had to initiate an internal backyard farm where they grow maize, pepper, garden eggs, and okro to supplement the diet of the inmates.
He further shared a plan of beginning a poultry farm, in the coming month, which he hoped to yield some income through the sale of eggs to the ready market within Afram Plains.
This, he said, would help improve the diet of the inmates, who would also be able to take eggs at least thrice a week, as opposed to the present, where they eat food without any meat or fish, because they just cannot afford it.
He called on all stakeholders to support them with the feeding of the birds and the vaccines, so that they could realize this dream of a life-empowerment project for the inmates.
It was also his dream that some of the proceeds from the yet-to-be-started poultry farm would be shared with the Koforidua Local Prison, so that they too can enjoy it, and it will empower them to begin something similar.
The Officer in-charge, who has served in Forifori Camp Prison for the past 14 years, believed that the poultry initiative would also serve as an avenue for skills training for the inmates, hoping that when they go home, they could start up something for themselves, with the skills learnt.
He also hoped to see the poultry grow to the extent that when an inmate is going home, he could be given something, out of it, to go and start life with; that way, he will be able to sustain himself and stay out of trouble.
Forifori Camp Prison is a place for “low-risk prisoners,” who are serving the final years of their prison terms, having been transferred from either Koforidua or Nsawam Wall Prisons.
Its main purpose is to decongest the other two prisons, also serves as a place where the inmates are helped to learn skills that could help them to reintegrate better into the society, once they are out, and this will help reduce chances of them returning to prison, because they must have had something to keep them busy.
Unlike other prisons that are overcrowded, the Camp Prison at Forifori offers fresh air to the inmates, allowing them to meet and interact with people who provide guidance and support as they aspire to return home.
By Sr. Sylvie Lum Cho, MSHR (DEPSOCOM, Donkorkrom Apostolic Vicariate)
