Eight (8) prisoners in Koforidua Local Prison in the Eastern Regional capital convicted to varied fines by Court for petty misdemeanor have gained freedom after philanthropists paid their fines.
The philanthropist, Ali Ibrahim, paid the amount through the Crime Check Foundation (CCF).
The release brought tears of joy to the hopeless poor prisoners serving their jail term for the inability to pay their relatively small fines for petty offenses committed.
Mr. Ibrahim Oppong Kwarteng, the Executive Director, CCF, expressed worry that “a nation that has no non-custodial Law will needlessly throw Petty offenders into prison and feed them with the taxpayer’s money when such offenders could have desilted our choked and stinking gutters. Through financial support from philanthropist, Ali Ibrahim, we have paid the fines and secured the release of these eight petty offenders from Koforidua Local Prison today. I just don’t understand why Parliament has consistently pushed aside the passage of the Non-Custodial Sentencing Bill into law”.
He narrated that, one of the beneficiaries -Samuel Kwaku Sakyi, a tricycle rider, “spent all his money on her girlfriend, Ama, hoping to marry her. He was so determined and faithful to the lady that he denied himself all the necessities of life just to make her glamorous to prevent another man from having her. This affected his sales to his master, but Samuel insists he had already fulfilled his part of the ‘Work and Pay’ agreement with his tricycle owner, but his boss will have none of that, so got him arrested”
He continued that “the court asked Samuel to pay one thousand eight hundred cedis to his boss or in default go to prison for 18 months, but he could not raise the amount. Ama had then left him. With tears, Samuel had to go to jail. After spending two months at the Koforidua Local Prison, philanthropist, Ali Ibrahim has paid the court fine for him to start life all over again”.
Source: Mybrytfmonline.com/Obed Ansah
