The Ghana Prisons Service has begun talks with the State Housing Company (SHC) to find lasting solutions to its long-standing housing challenges, which affect both officers and inmates across the country.
The discussion was initiated during a visit on Monday, October 20, 2025, by the Chairman of the Prisons Service Council, Apostle Ing. Alexander Nana Yaw Kumi-Larbi, and the Director General of Prisons, Mrs. Patience Baffoe-Bonnie, to the SHC Managing Director, Mr. John Sherif Bawa, at the company’s head office in Accra.
The meeting forms part of the Prisons Service’s broader “Think Prisons 360 Degrees” transformation agenda, which focuses on improving welfare, modernising agriculture, expanding industry, and building sustainable initiatives for the Service.
Mrs. Baffoe-Bonnie said only a quarter of Prisons officers currently live in service-provided housing, many of which are in poor condition. The rest, she added, have to rent private accommodation, often far from their duty stations, a situation that affects both security and morale.
She called for affordable, dignified housing options for officers, including post-retirement packages, and noted that the residences of senior officers do not reflect the status and responsibility of their roles.
To support these efforts, Mrs. Baffoe-Bonnie introduced the Prisons Improvement and Sustainability Pesewa Fund (PISPES), designed to attract grants, donor contributions, and corporate support to help improve facilities and welfare across the Service.
Mr. Bawa, on behalf of SHC, pledged to partner with the Prisons Service to develop decent and secure housing for officers and inmates. He said the company’s technical team would begin work immediately with their Prisons Service counterparts to fast-track the project and also expressed support for the PISPES Fund.
Apostle Kumi-Larbi thanked SHC for its willingness to collaborate and urged both sides to build a strong partnership that would transform living standards within the Prisons Service.
The meeting was attended by senior officials from both organisations, including technical, legal, and finance directors who are expected to form part of the working group for the new housing initiative.
