Despite the challenges affecting the country’s correctional facilities, the Kumasi Central Prison is making significant inroads in generating internal revenue to sustain its inmate population.
The Kumasi Central Prison has embarked on the commercial production of mineral water, both in sachet and bottled forms, for consumption and sale to the general public.
Moreover, the Service is cultivating vegetable farmland year-round, not only to supplement the nutrition of inmates but also to generate additional funds through public sales.
The Service has also ventured into pig farming and other livestock businesses.
Speaking on the Ghanakoma morning show on Akoma 87.9FM in Kumasi with Sir John on Thursday, October 29, 2026, the Head of Public Relations, Ashanti Regional Prison Command, CSP Richard Bukari, hinted that despite the numerous challenges they face, surrendering to despair was not an option.
Consequently, he stated that they had adopted innovative measures, including securing approval from the Food and Drugs Authority, to establish a drinking water production facility, which is already catering to the needs of the general public, among other initiatives.
The water production plant, situated at Adum within the vicinity of the Central Prison Barracks, is operated by inmates (with supervision by Prison Officers) who produce drinking water in commercial quantities under hygienic conditions.
CSP Bukari enumerated several challenges confronting the inmates, including overcrowding, insufficient feeding allowances, inadequate healthcare, and a lack of office space for senior prison officials.
Regarding the issue of inmate overcrowding, he advocated for proactive engagement with all stakeholders within the criminal justice system to mitigate the remand population, in particular.
“We must also consider transferring low-risk prisoners to agricultural facilities,” he said, urging the grant of Presidential Amnesty and the implementation of legal reforms as part of non-custodial sentences, all aimed at alleviating overcrowding in our prisons.
The Kumasi Central Prison currently has around 1,600 inmates instead of the 500 it was originally designed to accommodate.
He emphasised the necessity for effective reintegration of discharged inmates to deter recidivism.
On vocational training, he explained that it is the mandate of the Ghana Prisons Service to offer skill development opportunities to inmates, with 10 per cent currently undergoing training and plans to increase that figure to 15 per cent in the near future.
He appealed to philanthropists and organisations to support the Service with ICT equipment to enable more inmates to acquire valuable skills by the time they complete their sentences.
He said they have acquired large tracts of land at Sakora Wonoo in the Kwabre Municipality for commercial farming.
He said the project will also generate funds for the facility’s upkeep.
He said their pig farming and other livestock farming is doing well in the region.
“It is a result of good management thinking. Indeed, there is a lot of waste generated here, especially from the food that inmates are given… we always have leftover food and pigs depend largely on leftover food,” he said.
He said the Ghana Prison Service is working with the Ministry of Agriculture so the facility can expand its agricultural activities.
According to him, this will go a long way to help food supply and support the government’s GH¢5 per inmate daily feeding allocation.
“The entire Prisons Service is in agreement with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture for the Prisons to expand our agriculture, especially for stations that have vast land. For us in the Ashanti Region, we are going to enlarge our agricultural activities with the hope that, should it be sustainable, we can supplement the feeding of prisoners here, and if possible sell some to the people.
The Prisons Service has come to realise that the over-reliance on government in relation to the feeding of inmates is not the best,” he added.
By Benjamin Aidoo
