The Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, has expressed concern over what he describes as growing abuse of remand procedures by both the police and the courts.
He noted that in several cases, bail conditions set by the courts are so strict that accused persons are unable to meet them, leading to prolonged detention.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Thursday, May 28, Mr. Muntaka said ongoing reforms, including the passage of the Community Service Bill, are expected to ease pressure on the justice system, reduce reliance on remand, and help decongest prisons and police cells.
“I’ve been working with the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Dr. Dominic Ayine, on the constitutional amendment that is currently ongoing, that we should make remand very restrictive because currently it is massively abused. With the least provocation, they say they’ve remanded somebody. You go to the police, and they remand people anyhow,” he said.
He further added: “Sometimes they give terrible bail conditions that people are not able to meet. We want to take the opportunity in this constitutional amendment to restrict this unnecessary remand. I’m sure that if we’re able to get these three things working together, it is going to help us to decongest our prisons and also make life a little better.”
Mr. Muntaka also revealed that the state currently spends about GH¢40 million annually to feed prison inmates, a figure he described as insufficient to meet the demands of the correctional system.
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