Omanghana
Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has questioned the Ghana Prisons Service over the use of GH¢277,625 in inmate earnings for expenses outside the intended purpose of supporting prisoners’ welfare, training and reintegration.
The money was generated through paid work undertaken by inmates for Zoomlion Ghana Limited under the Inmates Support Program between January 2020 and May 2025.
At the committee’s hearing on Tuesday, October 20, Interior Minister Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka said the full amount had been recovered and deposited into the Auditor-General’s recoveries account. However, arrangements to pay the affected inmates remain unresolved.
The committee heard that inmates working under the Clean Ghana Project were entitled to GH¢10 daily, but the Prisons Service deducted GH¢3 from each person’s earnings as a feeding allowance without adequate supporting documentation.
Expenditure questioned during the hearing included a funeral donation associated with Zoomlion’s chief executive, water purchases for United Nations Day activities, bus repairs, day-old chicks, swivel chairs and printer toner.
PAC Chairperson Abena Osei Asare criticized weaknesses in the Service’s financial controls and called for officers responsible for the deductions to be held accountable.
Although the money has been recovered, Muntaka explained that some beneficiaries have completed their sentences and are returning to prison facilities to claim their outstanding earnings. The Service, however, no longer holds the funds following their transfer to the recoveries account.
To resolve the situation, the minister requested that the Auditor-General either release the money to the Prisons Service for distribution or receive the beneficiaries’ identification and tracking details to facilitate payment directly.
The hearing also examined funding challenges affecting rehabilitation within Ghana’s prisons.
Director-General of the Ghana Prisons Service, Mrs. Patience Baffoe-Bonnie, said the institution had, until recently, operated without a dedicated budget line for inmate reformation and reintegration. She linked inadequate support for these activities to difficulties in preparing inmates for life after release and reducing reoffending.
As part of efforts to secure sustained funding, the Service has proposed legislation requiring corporate organizations to commit one per cent of their Corporate Social Responsibility budgets to prison rehabilitation programs.
The proposed funding would support vocational training and manufacturing facilities within prisons, helping inmates acquire practical skills for employment after completing their sentences.
Source: Omanghana
