The Director-General of the Ghana Prisons Service, Mrs Patience Baffoe-Bonnie (Esq.), has described the working conditions of prison officers in the country as extremely difficult, saying the environment has significant psychological, emotional and physical effects on personnel.
She said prison officers are compelled to work and live in the same challenging conditions as convicted inmates, despite not having committed any offences themselves.
Mrs Baffoe-Bonnie made the remarks when she appeared before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), where she appealed to the government and lawmakers to improve the welfare of prison officers, particularly through better compensation and the payment of a contagious disease allowance.
“Working as a prison officer in Ghana is hell,” she said, emphasising the difficulties personnel face in carrying out their duties under challenging conditions.
According to her, the conditions within the country’s prisons affect officers as much as they affect inmates, leaving many personnel struggling with the demands of their work.
“The Ghana Prisons Service, working as a prison officer, is hell. It has a psychological effect, emotional effect, physical effect. Everything about a prison officer is highly challenged,” she stated.
She explained that officers who has not been convicted of any offence are required to operate in the same environment as inmates serving sentences, exposing them to the same poor conditions within prison facilities.
“What it means is that every bad condition in that environment is directly linked to the prison officer who has not committed any offence,” she said.
Mrs Baffoe-Bonnie added that the demanding nature of the job has taken a toll on the emotional well-being of personnel, observing that the average prison officer is often depressed.
The Prisons Service Director-General also expressed concern about the relatively low interest in recruitment into the service compared with other security agencies.
She said the trend observed during the most recent recruitment exercise suggested that fewer prospective applicants were interested in joining the Prisons Service.
According to her, the situation raises questions about the service’s ability to attract the calibre of personnel needed to perform its duties effectively.
Mrs Baffoe-Bonnie attributed the low interest partly to the difficult working environment and what she described as inadequate salaries.
She argued that the government need to consider additional compensation for prison officers to reflect the unique risks and demands associated with their work.
“The environment is toxic, the salary is not too good, and we must begin to compensate for these things as part of salary as a country,” she said.
She stressed that improving the welfare of personnel is necessary to attract qualified and committed individuals into the service.
Mrs Baffoe-Bonnie expressed hope that her appearance before the committee would help lawmakers and the public better understand the challenges facing prison officers and the need for greater institutional support.
She appealed to Parliament to consider measures that would improve the working conditions and welfare of personnel, arguing that adequate support would help officers carry out their responsibilities more effectively.
A major concern raised by Mrs Baffoe-Bonnie was the need to address the payment of a contagious disease allowance to prison officers who face potential exposure to infectious diseases in the course of their duties.
She said the issue has been under consideration for a considerable period and called for urgent attention to the welfare of officers working in environments where inmates’ health conditions might not yet be known.
According to her, officers at Ankaful Prison receive the allowance because the facility has been designated as a contagious disease prison.
However, she argued that limiting the allowance to personnel at a designated facility do not adequately address the risks faced by officers in other prisons.
She explained that inmates sent to a designated contagious disease facility would generally have undergone assessments that helped establish their medical status.
The greater risk, she argued, arose in ordinary prison facilities where officers interacted with inmates whose infectious disease status might not yet have been determined.
“The danger rather is in the spaces where we are yet to know whether the prisoners have the contagious disease or not. They rather are not being paid that allowance,” she told the committee.
Her comments highlighted concerns about the potential exposure of prison officers to infectious diseases while performing their duties, particularly before an inmate’s health status has been established.
Mrs Baffoe-Bonnie therefore urged Parliament to prioritise extending the allowance to officers working in such environments.
She maintained that addressing the issue would constitute an important step towards improving the welfare of personnel, even as broader questions about salaries and working conditions remained under consideration.
The Director-General appealed to lawmakers to support measures that would ensure prison officers received adequate compensation for the difficult conditions under which they work.
She suggested that resolving the contagious disease allowance issue would provide an immediate and practical intervention while efforts to address other salary-related concerns continued.
Mrs Baffoe-Bonnie said improved welfare would also strengthen the ability to ensure that officers discharge their duties in accordance with the law.
She indicated that providing personnel with better support would help address some of the concerns affecting their working environment and professional responsibilities.
“Before we look at all other salaries, if we are able to work on that, at least it will be a step in the right direction to ensure that my officers are somehow taken good care of,” she said.
She added that improved welfare would give her greater confidence in enforcing the laws governing the service.
“I’ll have the moral courage and justification to be implementing the laws as they are,” she told the committee.
Mrs Baffoe-Bonnie concluded by making what she described as a humble appeal to Parliament to consider the concerns raised and help improve conditions for prison officers across the country.
Her remarks have brought renewed attention to the working environment within Ghana’s prisons and the need to consider the welfare of personnel responsible for maintaining security, order and the safe custody of inmates.
By 1960news.com
