By Frank Kwame Abbor, GNA
Ho, Nov. 03, GNA – The Ho Female Prison has intensified vocational training, formal education and psychosocial support programmes to equip inmates with practical skills for successful rehabilitation and reintegration into society.
Assistant Director of Prisons (ADP) Lydia Odoi Yemoh, Officer-in-Charge of the facility, said the programmes included bread baking, liquid soap and disinfectant production, doormat weaving, dressmaking, poultry farming and fish farming.
“We want to make sure that whoever passes through our hands will never go back the same,” she said.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), ADP Yemoh said inmates were trained in the production of various types of bread, including wheat and chocolate bread, while an industrial sewing machine donated by the Hands on Hearts Foundation had expanded opportunities for fashion design and garment production training.
She said products such as bread and liquid soap were sold to generate income to sustain the training programmes.
ADP Yemoh explained that inmates underwent counselling upon admission to help identify their interests and select suitable vocational programmes.
She added that teachers from the Ghana Education Service (GES) visited the facility twice a week to provide formal education.
The Officer-in-Charge described the education programme as impactful, citing the case of an inmate who entered the facility without any formal classroom experience but had since acquired basic English communication skills.
ADP Yemoh said the prison also operated poultry and fish farming projects, supported by donations of between 350 and 400 birds and catfish fingerlings from Generational Thinkers.
She said veterinary officers periodically inspected the birds, while the projects provided practical agricultural skills and helped keep inmates productively engaged.
On inmate welfare, ADP Yemoh said clinical psychologists were periodically invited to provide mental health support.
She, however, appealed for public assistance to establish a baby-friendly unit to accommodate nursing mothers and their babies separately from other inmates.
According to her, the facility currently had a breastfeeding infant in custody with the mother, who was receiving postnatal care and adequate nutritional support.
ADP Yemoh called on non-governmental organisations, faith-based organisations, corporate bodies and individuals to support the prison with skills-training programmes, equipment and start-up kits to help inmates establish sustainable livelihoods after their release.
“Sometimes we do all that we can, but without start-up kits for them to start something meaningful, it is very difficult,” she said.
She identified commercial ovens, industrial sewing machines, and poultry equipment as some of the items needed to strengthen rehabilitation efforts.
ADP Yemoh also appealed to families and the public to support, rather than stigmatise, former inmates after their release.
She encouraged families to maintain regular contact with inmates during their incarceration, noting that acceptance and practical support after release were vital to sustaining rehabilitation gains and preventing reoffending.
Reflecting on her eight to nine months at the facility, she highlighted key interventions undertaken during her tenure, including the renovation of the Officer-in-Charge’s bungalow, support for poultry and fish farming projects, the installation of a signpost identifying the female prison and efforts to improve the access road.
She acknowledged the support of Eco Capital, John the Baptist and other partners, saying their contributions had enhanced the facility’s operations and visibility.
ADP Yemoh, who is scheduled to retire from the Ghana Prisons Service on Friday, November 6, said her work had been guided by a commitment to transforming lives.
Describing prison service as “a calling” and the work of “managing people’s souls,” she urged the public to support correctional institutions in their rehabilitation mandate and encouraged young people interested in joining the Service to embrace the responsibility of serving humanity.
GNA
Edited by Maxwell Awumah/Lydia Kukua Asamoah