The developments of Prisons in the country started in the early 1800,s when the promulgated with emphasis on punishments rather than safe custody.
During the early 19th century, the British government adopted the indirect rule system of government and as a result District Commissioners were appointed to see to the day-to day administration of the government.
The Kumasi Central Prison was established in 1901, soon after the British Government gained grounds to rule in the Ashanti Region. To enable them work effectively and to put fear in the indigenous people who posed as threat to their administration, several local and District Courts were created by the Colonial Masters.
he Prison was established to confine law-breakers in the facilitate the smooth running of the British administration. In 1925, Kumasi Prison was reconstructed increase the number of cells following the large number of inmates within the province. The site covers an area of 44,424 sq. ft. allowing 500 cubic feet for each prisoner.
The unit performs the following roles among others:
- Keeping daily ,weekly, monthly and yearly records on prisoners
- Collect and collate data on every aspect of the inmates.
- Classify, present and analyse the data collected for easy use by the Service and other interested stake holders.
- Co-ordinate the transfer of prisoners from one prison to the other to ensure even distribution of inmates to minimize overcrowding.
- Monitor the numbers of Remand prisoners and keep track of prisoners with expired warrant.
- Monitor the activities of all reception and criminal records officers.
- Co-ordinate the visit of foreigners to our prisons.
Remand Review Task Force
The Remand Review Task Force is one of the four thematic areas of the Justice For All Programme and the Task Force is responsible for the court sittings in the prison. The composition of the task force is as follows: Judicial Service, Attorney General’s Department , Ministry of the Interior, Police and Prisons Service: The chairman of the task Force is a Supreme Court Judge and the coordinator of the Task Force is a Principal State Attorney.
