Crime Check Foundation Executive Director Ibrahim Oppong Kwarteng has called on the government to increase the GH¢15 transport allowance given to discharged prisoners, saying the payment often leaves them stranded on their journey home.
Kwarteng also urged the authorities, media and public to stop using the term “ex-convicts” and instead describe people leaving prison as “returning citizens”.
Speaking on JoyNews’ The Law programme on Sunday, November 8, he confirmed to host Samson Lardy Anyenini that the Ghana Prisons Service still provides GH¢15 for the transport of discharged inmates.
He said conversations with former prisoners had shown that the amount was insufficient, regardless of how far they had to travel to reach their communities.
“How do you expect the person to reach their destination with GH¢15? So what happens is that, in the course of their journey, some of them steal on the way because the GH¢15 will not take them to their hometown,” Kwarteng said.
He warned that inadequate support could undermine rehabilitation before former inmates had even returned home. Some, he said, resorted to stealing during their journeys simply to raise enough money to continue travelling.
The prison reform advocate, who has previously campaigned for higher daily feeding allowances for inmates, said the situation reflected poor state planning for reintegration after release.
He called for stronger post-custodial support and sustained aftercare to help people leaving prison secure accommodation, employment and a stable route back into their communities.
Kwarteng’s remarks come after recent government commitments to improve correctional facilities. President John Mahama announced on Saturday that GH¢100 million would be provided next year to complete remand prisons, while a regional prison medicines bank has also been launched.
However, Kwarteng said financial assistance alone would not address the stigma faced by former prisoners. He said a visit to a United States correctional facility last year had demonstrated to him how damaging language could be to confidence and reintegration.
“They are returning citizens, not ex-convicts. There is a lot of literature that tells us that if we continue to use the ex-convict tag, it does not help in proper reintegration,” he said.
Kwarteng cited estimates that about 30 per cent of former inmates return to prison. He said two former prisoners who appeared on the programme had each been jailed three or four times after experiencing rejection from their communities, unemployment and homelessness.
He urged the media and wider public to reject negative stereotypes and work with state agencies to develop livelihood and housing support for people rebuilding their lives after prison.
