Crime Check Foundation (CCF) has paid the fine of a convict, Osei Boadi for his release under its Petty Offenders project.
He was sentenced to three months imprisonment after defaulting in the payment of a court fine of Eight Hundred and Forty Ghana cedis.
According to Boadi, he was arrested and arraigned before court for his involvement in stealing a motor tricycle.
The now freed convict said hardships led him into the act.
“The motor was for my friend’s uncle and we were four involved in the act. We had planned to sell the tricycle but we did not succeed. I got myself involved in the act because I knew I would get a share after it has been sold,” he narrated.
Boadi said he was arrested when the motor was seen in his custody.
“I admitted the act because I had parked the tricycle in my house. I only mentioned the name of my friend whose uncle owned the tricycle but by the time the police would get to where he lived, he had escaped. I had to face the consequences alone,” he said.
During its routine visits to the Kumasi Central Prison where Boadi was held, CCF paid his fine for his release.
Boadi told the CCF team his struggles in the prison concerning deplorable living conditions and the nature of food served.
The Public Relations Officer for the Prison, Richard Bukari said the deplorable condition is due to the paltry feeding grant allocated to the prisons. He applauded CCF’s intervention of releasing petty offenders to help decongest the prisons, under its Petty Offenders project.
“The prison was originally meant as a holding place for slaves for dispatch to overseas. Now it holds close to two thousand inmates. We thank CCF for its work in the prison and its advocacy to get the Non-Custodial Sentencing Bill passed into law to help decongest the prisons,” he commended.
CCF’s crime prevention advocacy
Aside paying the fines of petty offenders and re-integrating them into society, Crime Check Foundation (CCF) has introduced programmes including the latest ‘Stay Away From Trouble’ as part of its crime prevention advocacy project.
Through these programmes CCF cautions the general public against acts that could land them in trouble in a bid to curb crime.
The Foundation screens one-on-one interviews with prison inmates bringing to bear acts that landed them in prison and the difficulties they face in custody.
