The Justice for All Programme (JFAP) has uncovered a shocking incident at the Kumasi Central Prisons, where a man was wrongfully detained for five months after his case was struck out and he was discharged by the Nkawie Circuit Court.

The Chairperson of the Steering Committee of the Justice for All Programme and Justice of the Court of Appeal, Justice Angelina Mensah-Homiah, expressed disbelief and questioned: “Who signed the warrant for the investigator to bring the accused person back to prison?”

She further quizzed: “If the Court in its wisdom has found no case against an accused person and the Court has discharged the person, on what basis should an investigator bring the person back to prison?”

Although the accused was immediately released by prison authorities after the discovery, Justice Mensah-Homiah emphasised: “This should not happen to any Ghanaian citizen,” and indicated that JFAP would seek further answers regarding “why and how” the person entered the prison premises when a court of competent jurisdiction had struck out the case and discharged him.

 She added: “Does it mean if we had not come to the prison today to raise this alarm, he would still have been in there? Already he has overstayed for five months. Just imagine, ladies and gentlemen, this can happen to your relative, it can happen to my relative.”

Justice Mensah-Homiah urged investigators to ensure that remand warrants are properly and duly endorsed by Judges or Magistrates to avoid such incidents.

She noted: “It does not make sense for a Magistrate or a Judge who has discharged an accused person to at the same time sign a remand warrant for the person to be brought back to prison.”

This incident marks the second such case discovered in the country’s prisons. Justice Mensah-Homiah recalled a similar case three years ago, where an accused person discharged by a Court in Mampong Akuapem overstayed in prison for five years.

During the Justice for All Programme sitting at the Kumasi Central Prisons, 31 cases were brought before Justice Hannah Taylor and Justice Frederick Tetteh in separate proceedings.

Three persons were discharged unconditionally, 13 inmates were granted bail, 13 were refused bail, and two cases were struck out.

Responding to the incident, the Acting Officer in Charge of the Kumasi Central Prison, CSP Alex Adjei, expressed surprise, stating that the warrant for keeping the man in prison was genuine and not the prison's fault.