THE GHANA PRISONS SERVICE HAS COMMISSIONED A NEW BAKERY AND WORKSHOP FACILITY JUST HOURS BEFORE ASHANTI REGIONAL NPP CHAIRMAN BERNARD ANTWI BOASIAKO, BEGAN SERVING HIS JAIL SENTENCE FOLLOWING HIS CONVICTION IN THE SAMREBOI MINING CASE.(PHOTO).

 The Ghana Prisons Service has commissioned a new bakery and workshop facility at the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons, just hours before Ashanti Regional NPP Chairman Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, began serving his jail sentence following his conviction in the Samreboi mining case.

The facility was commissioned in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as part of activities to mark this year's Nelson Mandela International Day on July 18.

Director-General of the Ghana Prisons Service, Patience Baffoe-Bonnie, said the project forms part of the Service's broader prison reform agenda under the Think Prisons Ghana 360 initiative, which seeks to make correctional facilities centres for rehabilitation rather than punishment alone.

"This project is a key milestone in the Service's transformational journey under the Think Prisons Ghana 360 Degrees initiative," she said.

"Launched last year, this comprehensive agenda envisions prisons not just as places of incarceration but spaces for hope, healing, productivity and national relevance. The initiative is a paradigm shift, moving from a purely custodial institution to a more self-sustaining rehabilitative ecosystem."

Mrs Baffoe-Bonnie said the bakery and workshop would provide inmates with practical vocational skills to improve their chances of rebuilding their lives after completing their sentences.

"The goal is to ensure inmates are equipped with practical skills, to guarantee employable skills, and insist that at least when inmates are released, they find something good to do with their lives," she said.

She added that the programme supports the second pillar of the Think Prisons Ghana 360 initiative by creating jobs, increasing income generation for both the Prisons Service and inmates, while providing marketable skills to those in custody.

We guess Chairman would have a pleasant stay in there with quality meals served as breakfast as he party reflects on the nest line of action for him.