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Ghana: Rival Political Factions Have Clashed at Medium Security Prison
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Accra Mail (Accra)
EDITORIAL
17 May 2008
Posted to the web 16 May 2008
Accra
"Rival political factions have clashed at Ghana's Medium Security Prison, Nsawam, leaving 8 prisoners and two prison officers dead. The clash occurred when the NDC and NPP branches of the prison met on the prison's football park to debate their respective parties' manifestoes.
It is not clear how it was started but barely 30 minutes into the programme, a brawl broke out and the inmates went after one another. In addition to using the furniture provided for the event as offensive weapons, they also attacked one another with sharp knives, broken bottles and other "home-made" weapons. Some of them, sensing the confusion attempted a breakout.
So vicious was the confrontation that the prison authorities had to use automatic rifles to bring the situation under control. When it was over, 10 people lay dead with knife and stray bullet wounds; tensions are said to be running very high as the prison, has now become a hot bed of political activity and rivalry . Security and discipline have broken down."
The heading and story above are phoney, but possible, if we allow all this talk of allowing prisoners to vote to get the better part of our judgment. Yesterday the state-owned Daily Graphic reported that "Fourteen thousand prisoners stand to be disenfranchised in the December elections if the Electoral Commission (EC) does not activate their right to vote."
Voting is not merely the act of putting a ballot paper into a ballot box. It is a long process starting with the freedom of association, the right to form and belong to a political party, the freedom of expression, etc. Custodial sentence goes with the loss of certain freedoms and privileges - including those cited above.
Prisons are security zones not normally open to the general public - and rightly so. Even those with visitation rights like family, must obtain permission. Prisons definitely are off limit to certain activities like politicking or campaigning by politicians for votes! Though there may not be any law in the country barring prisoners from voting, common sense is the law here, because practically, that would be inviting chaos into our prisons.
If our prisoners must vote, then we must allow them to form branches of the political parties in the prisons, allow them newspapers, magazines, radios, televisions and above all give political activists free access to the prisons to canvass support from the inmates. This is so that like the rest of us, they would participate fully in the process and have the right information to make an informed choice on voting day.
This means they must be allowed to associate freely politically and on their on turf at least they must hold rallies and debates - but do that, the scenario described above would become a reality!
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What we should be talking about are the reforms that would improve the living conditions in our prisons (and they are sub-human), provide better diet for inmates (currently nutritionally valueless), institute real vocational and academic training (totally absent) and reintegration programmes (unavailable) when the prisoner has served his or her term and rejoins society. Voting? Just ask the average prisoner; that's the least of his or her concern.
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