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An Assistant Controller of the Ghana Prisons Service (GPS), Mr Abundant Robert K. Awolugutu, has underscored the need for legislative reforms to make prisons in the country real centres of correction and rehabilitation. That, he said, would help equip inmates with employable skills and also facilitate the successful integration of ex-convicts into society and reduce the incidence of reoffending. He also said there was the need to expunge from the country's statute books the provision that debarred ex-convicts from being employed by the state. Mr Awolugutu, who is also the Northern Regional Commander of GPS, made the call in Tamale last Saturday at his maiden durbar with officers drawn from all the prison establishments in the region. Lack of funding He said although the service had performed well in ensuring the safe custody and welfare of prisoners, the lack of funds continued to be a major challenge. Mr Awolugutu added that due to insufficient budget allocation from the government, reformation and rehabilitation programmes were non-existent in some prisons; even in those prisons where they existed the programmes were dying out. He stated that severe under-funding had impacted negatively on the ability of the service to adequately resource existing workshops and procure machines and materials to set up new workshops to effectively train prisoners. "GPS can be said to be effective as a social control agency only if inmates are equipped with employable skills that facilitate their successful integration and reduce reoffending," he said. He, therefore, appealed to the government to resource the service with the needed funds and logistics to enable it to discharge its statutory obligations towards the maintenance of internal security in the country. Other challenges Mr Awolugutu mentioned other challenges facing the service as overcrowding in the prisons, poor infrastructure, lack of vehicles for both administrative and prisoner use and lack of suitable accommodation facilities for officers. He said the current feeding rate of GH�1.80 per prisoner per day was woefully inadequate and stressed the need for an increment. He also appealed to the President to reconstitute the Prisons Service Council to champion the cause of the service. He said the 1992 Constitution provided for the establishment of a Prisons Council to formulate policies and guidelines and undertake periodic inspection of prison facilities and deal with cases of unjustified treatment.