Prisoners feeding rate to be increased from GH¢1.80 to GH¢5.00 – Minister

The feeding rate for prison inmates is expected to see an increase from GH¢1.80 to GH¢5.00 to ensure the right to adequate food and nutrition, Mr Ambrose Dery, Minister for Interior has said.

He said the call for increment had preceded before the current government came into power.

However, the Ministry and the Ghana Prisons Service were yet to receive approval from the Ministry of Finance.

Mr Dery, who is also a Member of Parliament (MP) for Nandom Constituency announced the proposed increment in Parliament, in Accra, on Wednesday.

He made the remarks in his response to a question by Mr Rockson-Nelson Etse Kwami Dafeamekpor, the MP for South Dayi on behalf of Mr Francis-Xavier Kojo Sosu, MP for Madina what measures were being taken to increase the feeding allocation of GH¢1.80 per day with the view of ensuring prisoners’ right to adequate food and nutrition was in line with the Sustainable Development Goal 2, which called for Zero Hunger.

“Mr Speaker, the Ghana Prisons Service and the Ministry have made various attempts for the upward adjustment of the feeding rate from GH¢1.80 to GH¢5.00,” he said.

Mr Dery added that notwithstanding, the Ghana Prisons Service supplemented the inmates feeding with produce from the Prisons farms to avert malnutrition and its related problems.

Mr Dafeamekpor further proposed a policy be implemented for prisoners to cultivate crops that would supplement their feeding.

He also urged the Interior Minister to engage with Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, the Finance Minister ahead of the mid-year review budget to make the proposed adjustment materialise.

Source: GNA