By: Evans Attah Akangla| ignewss| Ho
The Apostolic Church Ghana has inaugurated and handed over an ultra-modern executive barbering salon at a cost of over Eighty Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHC 80, 000. 00) to the Ho Central Prisons aimed at generating funds to enhance the welfare of the inmates of the Ho Prisons
This was an initiative by Apostle Dr. Aaron Ami -Narh the president of the Apostolic Church Ghana and his wife First Lady Josephine Ami-Narh upon a request to construct a barbering salon with support from MTN Ghana as a sign of benevolence and support to the inmates in fulfillment of their promise to the Ho Prison.
The idea for the project originated from an appeal made by the Ho Prison Commander on the First Lady of the Church’s birthday in May, when they visited the inmates to celebrate and show them love and joy despite their confinement.
Apostle Ami-Narh recalled and said that even though they received a warm welcome, they noticed that the food prepared to feed the inmates was of low quality as they spent their hearts on counseling them, seeing to their medical needs, and getting to know them.
“We came here to bring love and joy to the people, and we were welcomed very well. We did a lot of things with them, including counseling, medical screening, food, and fraternizing with them. We noticed that the food they were eating was of very poor quality, so we asked them about some of their needs. They said they wanted a barbershop, so we made the decision to get one for them” he explained.
Additionally, he asserted and prayed for divine intervention to deliver society from selfishness and greed, which has also grown to be a major issue for humanity, in order to stop corruption, which appears to have become a normalized practice in society.
Apostle Dr. Aaron Ami -Narh on behalf of the church disclosed that beside the barbering Salon they have plans of other interventions which has to do with the life of the inmates after they leave the prison.
“Conversations and consultations are underway between the commander on getting prisoners to acquire some employable skills to help them fully reinstate with the society” he added.
The Deputy Director of Prisons (DDP) and the Volta Regional Commander of Prisons, Martin Kwesi Darku, expressed appreciation for the church’s support and thanked the President and First Lady Ami- Narh for their gesture.
“The Barbershop will be used as one of the reformation centers for inmates who wish to obtain some form of skills training in barbering before they are released from prison” he said.
He mentioned that as a mandate of the Ghana Prisons Service to rehabilitate and reform Prisoners the gesture is very important as it contributes immensely to the skill development of inmates during their incarceration.
The Commander assured the donors that the structure will be put to good use and will be well maintained in order to achieve the purpose for which it was built.
In a speech on behalf of the Director General of prisons, Raphael Tuekpe, the deputy director of prisons, commended the Ho regional commander for working with the Apostolic Church-Ghana to give inmates the opportunity to grow while they are under guard.
“Without a doubt, this will contribute significantly to the transformation objective for prisoners prior to their reintegration into society” he stressed.
He added that, the initiative adheres to the Director-General of Prisons’ policy direction, which emphasizes effective cooperation with key partners and the wellbeing of prisoners.
In light of this, he said that the Service constantly seeks out individuals and organizations for support and collaboration in order to advance on a daily basis.
“One particularly successful partnership was with the National Entrepreneurship Innovative Program (NEIP), which provided inmates with entrepreneurial and vocational skills prior to their release back into society” he revealed.
Source: www.ignewss.com|Ghana