The Graduate Students Association of Ghana (GRASAG) of the Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development (AAMUSTED) has donated foods and toiletries to the female inmates in the Kumasi Central Prison.
The Women’s Commission of the Association fronted the donation with the idea to augment efforts by the Prison Service to improve conditions of the inmates at the female prisons. The items comprised bags of rice, soft drinks, boxes of biscuits, mackerels, washing and bathing soaps, sanitary pads, flip flops, among others.
The Women’s Commissioner, Miss. Christine Akuoko-Serwaa, presented the items and indicated the joy of the GRASAG members to have been able to give their widow’s mite towards the upkeep of the beneficiaries. She explained that the move was a partial fulfillment of the corporate social responsibility of AAMUSTED and to assure the inmates that society still loves them and wanted the best for them.
She expressed the hope that the December 31, 2021 donation, valued at about GHS1,500.00, would not be the last that the Association would be responding to the needs of the female prisoners. “Seeing firsthand the conditions under which the inmates live has motivated members to commit themselves to sourcing resources to support the prisoners,” she said.
Receiving the items on behalf of the inmates, the Assistant Superintendent of Prisons (ASP) Caren Obeng, commended GRASAG for the gesture. She said the donation would go a long way to support their upkeep.
She appealed to members of the Association to frequent the prisons with more support, pointing to those done serving their jail terms as those with the greatest need for support to reintegrate into society.
According to her, the Prison Service offers the inmates training in various trade areas like sewing, hairdressing, and tie and dye to equip them to find economically viable activities to support their upkeep beyond the four walls of the prisons. She hoped that the GRASAG members would be on hand to support freed inmates to settle down into their businesses and integrate properly into society.