COP hands over 300-bed capacity prison infrastructure to inmates at Ejura

In partial fulfilment of its Corporate Social Responsibility, the Church of Pentecost has officially handed over an expanded 300-capacity Ejura Camp Prison to the Ghana Prisons Service after an inaugural ceremony held at Ejura Nkwanta in the Mampong Municipality of the Ashanti Region. The Minister for the Interior, Ambrose Derry, was present to grace the occasion. 

The project valued at the cost three million Ghana credits is expected to ease congestion and bring some relief to the inmates. 

 

 The expanded project which was in pursuant of the service’s 10-year strategic plan in 2018 commenced with the construction of a one cell to fifty inmates block came to a standstill due to financial constraints. 

 

In view of this the service took steps to acquire an old structure that served as a clinic for renovation which in the latter became the holding cell and Administration block for the first batch of inmates dispatched from Kumasi. 

 

Realizing the difficulty in making up for the desired finances to complete the project, it sought the assistance of other benevolent organizations which yielded no results. Through the distress call, the Church of Pentecost responded positively and resolved to bare  almost the entire cost of the expansion works with the aim of giving back to the community. 

 

The project, now the Ejura Camp Prisons has been built to specification and standards of the Ghana Prisons Service. It began 3-years ago and has the capacity to house between 50-300 inmates at a goal due to the expansion. The edifice can boast of an well resourced administration block with two dormitories, an infirmary, a lodge for visitors, a convertible auditorium for social and  church activities and skills training workshop. There is also a football field for inmates'  recreation, a toilet and other ancillaries. 

 

Addressing the gathering to officially inaugurate the project, an official of the State Protocol at the Presidency who doubles as the Chief of Ejura, Barima Osei Hwedie, hinted that the land was given out to the management of the Ghana Prisons Service at no cost and wished that the youth of the area would be made to benefit from the project by way of employment. 

 

For his part, the Chairman of the Church of Pentecost, Apostle Eric Nyamekye,  re emphasized the church’s commitment to providing for the wellbeing of those in need. He added that the church has dedicated itself to that cause and has over the years extended its benevolence in the provision of  social services not only to the Ghana Prisons Service by the Ghana Police Service and the state in general. 

 

The Director General of the Ghana Prisons Service, Patrick Darko Missah, who acknowledged the gesture recounted the long bond of  partnership between the service and the church, stressing that the level of  support from the church has come to cement that bond which he hoped could be sustained for years to come. 

 

The Minister for the Interior, Ambrose Derry who was the guest of honour expressed government’s desire to partner faith based institutions in complementing its development efforts, which he noted was key to actualising the public-private partnership agreement. He urged other institutions to emulate the gesture for the sake of growth and development. 

 

Source: kofiasare@rocketmail,com